*2.1.5. Cognitive perception of the tourist destination*

In specialized literature on tourism, it has been argued that, on the one hand, cognition can be defined as objective knowledge of a place or the quality of the physical characteristics of the environment [39], and on the other hand as the set of people's beliefs, ideas and impressions about a particular place [40]. In the same vein, reviewing the literature on tourism reveals the wide range of studies related to tourist cognition in terms of defining a place, as well as an image [41, 42]. From this perspective, cognitive perception is relevant for tourist behavior, since tourism is a discretionary activity, with a higher level of choice and less limitations than most other human endeavors. Specifically, cognitive perception includes processes related to attention to stimuli and events, their understanding, remembering past events, assessments, and buying choices [43].

#### *2.1.6. Affective evaluation of the tourist destination*

In terms of tourism, the affective evaluation of a place by a tourist can be defined as the way they feel about the place [44, 45] or the assessment of the affective quality of the place [39]. That way, visitors will be motivated by the appearance of destinations and their attractions, and also their emotional qualities, which will be helpful in terms of fulfilling their psychological needs [46]. A destination is linked to its visitors and accounts for affective links, which can be positive, neutral or negative [47]. From this perspective, such link between products and emotions evokes an image of the product in the consumer's mind [44]. Consequently, an affective evaluation can emerge from two different paths; one of them is innate and includes sensory/ motor processes that generate primitive or partially formed affective assessments, while the other entails a conceptual outline and transformation [48].
