We know a great deal about how and where tourists move and spend their time with the advent of big data (Li et al., 2018). However, we know precious little about why they behave the way they do. Ironically, as researchers move relentlessly onto the big data bandwagon, the risks of producing an even vaster amount of empirical data with little epistemological validity grows exponentially. Big data, defined as massive scale data which is recorded, stored, accumulated and generated by its users (Li et al., 2018) can achieve a lot but it also means the individual tourist is largely forgotten. Qualitative studies on movement in tourism (Cutler et al., 2014) and those that examine the individual tourists (De Cantis et al., 2016) exist, but with the advent of new technology such studies are far from the norm. This research note aims to draw attention to the limitations associated with the proliferation of big data research advocating for greater in-depth, theoretically informed, qualitative, insights into the reasons for tourist decision making in analysing spatial and temporal patterns of tourists.