Cognitive distance: a neglected issue in travel behaviour

An appreciation of distance is important in all studies of travel behavior. However, the impressions of distance that travelers hold in their minds are often very different from real distance. Such "cognitive distance" tends to be overlooked in travel research. A study of tourist impressions of distance on the east coast of Australia shows that such distance is overestimated relative to reality. It also suggests that the distance cognition of tourists differs from that of permanent residents and that the process of distance cognition is influenced by a range of factors.