Tourist motivation is the reason why a tourist will make the decision to choose one destination over another and the attributes that governs that behavior. This is important to the tourist professional for a number of reasons. The tourist professional must have an understanding of what drives the tourist to initiate the vacation and then match a destination that fits with the tourist’s travel motives. A good fit may ensure that the guest will enjoy the vacation and either come back year after year or book another trip with that professional. The tourist professional also needs to have information about tourist motivation in order to market specific destinations and design appropriate tourist packages. In this paper I will interview a
Crompton (1979) points out that many times professionals view these motivators separately and do not see them working together. He states (1979, p.421) that “...destination decisions were usually energized by several motives acting in tandem.” Many of the push motives may work together to form the motivation for the traveler’s decisions. The downside of this theory is that unless specifically mentioned, each motive in the push section may be viewed as a separate entity in a list and not integrated when reviewing the destination decision. The pull and push motives themselves may not be seen as interrelated. Crompton indicates that the travel industry too often makes the assumption that travelers always want to see and do things constantly. They focus only on the pull factors and not the traveler’s push motivators. Cultural attractions and structured activities may not be what the traveler is looking for on a particular destination. Crompton suggests that travel professionals need to focus more on the social and psychological reasons that people choose travel and once that is understood then destinations can be tailored to meet these needs. They may also need to help the traveler explore their motives for travel. He indicates that many travelers may not be aware of their socio