LAUSR

Abstract Research on visitor attitudes to tourism destinations is an established area of scholarly attention. This research note provides a critical commentary of the theoretical trends in visitor attitude studies based on a systematic review of 162 journal articles in top tier journals between 1977 and 2019. This short communication contributes to tourism research and scholarship by demonstrating that prior research on visitor attitude is predominantly descriptive and lacks theoretical engagement, with the gap between atheoretical and theoretical articles expanding proportionally over time. Scholars should consider the application of active theory from parent (sub)disciplines such as social psychology and cognitive psychology to provide future research on visitor attitudes to tourism destinations with much needed depth, substance and theoretical maturity.