The initial assumption that individ

The initial assumption that individuals use their full analytical ability to make their choices rationally led to the application of empirical models (Morley 1994a, 1994b). It also resulted in proposed decision-making models in which tourists were able to consider the complete set of alternatives simultaneously, together with all the determinant variables of each alternative. Bargeman and van der Poel’s (2006) research appears to rest on the assumption that travel decisions are thoroughly planned. They conclude that vacation decision-making processes are much less extensive and far more routinized than described in the rational choice models. However, based on Simon’s (1955) theories of people’s limited cognitive capacity and the cost–benefit trade-off of cognitive deliberation, Steinbruner (2002) proposed the cybernetic model of decision making, whereby the individual breaks down a problem into different sections, and a set of selected relevant variables are used to reach the final choice through a staged decision-making process based on heuristics. Decisions are sequential in nature and are affected by a number of internal and external variables (Sirakaya and Woodside 2005).