There are good a priori reasons to suspect that conventional models do not fully encompass the diverse processes involved in the produc- tion of tourist decisions. First, recreational tourism is characterised by heightened risks associated with uncertainties of outcomes and with the supposed motive initially at play in individual tourists’ behaviours. In some senses, the experience the tourist seeks is not only intangible; it is often not discernibly present for the tourist when tourism behaviour begins, and is largely constructed in situ. As psychologists interested in motivation have long understood, there is openness about behaviours such as exploration, play and curiosity that contrasts with strongly goal-directed intentional behaviours.