Rethinking Consumer Agency in Tourism Research

Abstract

In the age of global pandemics, increasing geopolitical conflicts, and subsequent restrictions on human mobilities (including tourism), the question of consumer agency in tourism is particularly pressing. Previous scholarship has largely assumed that tourists are free agents in the pursuit of authenticity through increasing mobility. This conceptual research problematizes the lack of conceptualization of agency in tourism. Based on various streams of tourism literature that demonstrated—although did not explicitly discuss—tourist agency in action, we theorize tourist agency as a product of intersectional and institutional forces, accentuated by spatiality and temporality. We further built a parsimonious typology of tourist agency consisting of Unconstrained, Stigmatized, Constrained, and Negotiated agencies. We hope that this conceptual paper fuels further research and acknowledgment of agency.