Emotions in Tourism: from Consumer Behavior to Destination Management

We argue in this chapter that tourism practice is emotionally charged, but tourism research is less so. In fact, emotion research in tourism was mostly borrowed from marketing studies, which limits its application mainly to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty issues. Little is known as yet about the complex nature of the emotion concept and the dynamic relationship between tourist experiences and emotional states. Therefore in this chapter we aim to: (1) clarify the emotional concept and the underlying theories in modern psychology; (2) identify the crucial connections between tourist experiences (pre-, on-, and post-trip) and emotional states; and (3) assess the main domains of interest for future emotion research in tourism. We propose a conceptual framework to bridge consumer behavior and destination management/marketing research through studying emotional states. Further, we argue that human interactions between host and guest (as well as among guests), emotional valence of tourism activities (and on-line behaviors), as well as attention to eliciting emotion in destination marketing/ branding and service design are the main issues for a future research agenda. To investigate these issues, combined use of (qualitative) self-reported techniques and (technologically advanced) observation techniques will be crucial.