Research is often driven by critical incidents or concerns present within an area of study at a particular point in time. We suggest that much previous and current work on tourists’ decision-making, which is undeniably useful and ‘fit for purpose’, has been driven by histori- cally prominent concerns over destination marketing and consumer services. However, the recent proliferation of journals and conferences on topics such as the sustainability of tourism, tourism and peak oil, tourism and climate change is indicative of more recent concerns with complex social and environmental dimensions of tourist behaviour. Along with an increasing acknowledgement of the fluidity and com- plexity of tourists’ decision-making, this means that process orientated approaches should be valuable and complementary adjuncts to current work.