To go or not to go: A typology of Asian tourist destination avoidance

Understanding why tourists or visitors avoid a particular destination is as equally important as identifying reasons for visiting a place of interest. However, previous conceptual and empirical studies tend to focus more on the latter. Literature on how and why Asian travellers avoid a specific tourist destination is relatively scarce. Drawing from consumer psychology, services marketing, tourism management, and brand management literatures, this paper aims to develop a typology of destination avoidance based on two dimensions, i.e. destination attractiveness (DA) and perceived destination risks (PDR).The proposed typology consists of “Go and Enjoy” (high DA, low PDR), “Avoid Temporary” (high DA, high PDR), “Forget It” (low DA, low PDR), and “No-Go Zone” (low DA, high PDR). The focus of this study is Asian travellers’ decision-making; and the key indicators of DA and PDR are based on specific needs of Asian travellers. Future empirical research, managerial, and public policy implications will be discussed at the end of the chapter.