Abstract
Behavioural research is foundational to sustainable tourism, yet persistent methodological shortcomings warrant critical reflection. This paper issues a wake-up call to the field, drawing attention to the enduring gap between behavioural intentions and actual behaviours, the overreliance on cross-sectional survey designs, and the conflation of self-reports with observed actions. We identify key methodological pitfalls in the study of behavioural intent and behaviour, including the dominance of designs that obscure causality, the widespread use of self-reported data prone to recall and social desirability biases, and structural challenges such as self-selection, self-representation, and self-deception. Further concerns include the uncritical adaptation of weak or context-inappropriate scales, limited methodological triangulation, and questionable research practices such as HARKing. Drawing on exemplar articles published in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism, we showcase best practices in capturing real-world behaviour through experimental and longitudinal approaches. We also outline the Journal's evolving expectations for submissions, introducing a tiered framework clarifying acceptable methodological standards. We call for robust theoretical innovation, thoughtful scale development, and empirically grounded designs that engage with the complexity of real behaviour-advancing behavioural research in sustainable tourism toward greater credibility, transparency, and impact.