WebinarOnline
Understanding the modern tourist: Psychological drivers, ethical marketing and managing destination impacts
Friday, 18 December 2026
Explore how emotion, identity and social influence shape travel choices, and how marketers can use this insight responsibly.
About this event
Travel decisions are shaped by psychological motives that include novelty, belonging, rest, status, identity and personal development. This webinar examines how these motives interact with memory, emotion, social comparison and previous experience. It also considers how media narratives and cultural expectations influence travellers before they arrive. Rather than presenting a single model of the modern tourist, the session will explore how motivations vary across social contexts, stages of life, travel experience and the practical opportunities available to different individuals.
Panellists will examine how marketers can use psychological knowledge responsibly without exploiting vulnerability or intensifying pressure on destinations. The discussion will cover truthful representation, communication before arrival and behavioural interventions that make responsible choices easier. It will consider how appeals to exclusivity, authenticity or social status can affect visitor concentration and conduct. Particular attention will be given to the relationship between individual choice and the commercial systems that shape which options are visible, affordable and convenient.
Participants will learn to connect consumer research with the physical and social effects of tourism on residents, cultures and ecosystems. They will consider how to define intended behaviours, evaluate communication and monitor outcomes after visitors arrive. The webinar will provide a framework for assessing whether marketing respects autonomy, represents destinations fairly and supports manageable patterns of demand. Delegates will leave better able to apply psychological insight as part of responsible destination management rather than as a mechanism for increasing conversion alone. This ensures that ethical marketing remains consistently connected to measurable destination outcomes over time.