Homo sapiens on Vacation

Abstract

In recent years, scholars in various fields have been making increased use of evolutionary theory to gain a deeper understanding of human behavior. Since the 1970s, with the birth of new fields of research known as Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology, researchers in a broad range of the social sciences are now applying evolutionary theory and thinking to the study of human behavior in a wide variety of contexts. However, there is little evidence of studies that have sought to examine tourism behavior from an evolutionary perspective. This article examines predominantly the literature on sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, as well as some from genetic science, in order to identify aspects of tourism behavior in which evolutionary-based theorizing may hold important and promising potential to increase understanding.