Largely employing the frameworks provided by the opponent process theory, the trans-theoretical model of change, and the two factor theory of motivation, the present paper introduces the concept of ‘nativistic motivation’ into the tourism literature. Although nativistic motivation might turn out to be an important category in the nomological network of tourism theory, it has thus far escaped the attention of tourism researchers. The traditional conceptualization of tourism motivation included only those factors that ‘positively’ motivate individuals to travel and considered that lower ratings on these factors alone constituted demotivation to travel. Nativistic motivators may be defined as those counter-touristic drives that motivate individuals not to travel before they embark on travel and motivate them to go back to their places of residence once they are on the move. The paper reports the development of a valid and reliable instrument to measure nativistic motivation. It hypothesizes the stages of touristic and nativistic motivations and the interactions between them. The simple yet comprehensive model proposed in this paper views tourism phenomenon essentially as a negotiated process between touristic and nativistic motivators