Life Cycle of Tourism Destinations

BUTLER’S MODEL (Life Cycle of Tourism Destinations) This model tracks changes in visitor numbers and the development of infrastructure directed at tourism (e.g. accommodation and tourist attractions). Theoretically, these stages of development are identical to those determined by the number of tourists visiting the destination, the typology of these tourists (cf. Cohen and Plog’s typology; see ‘Tourist typologies’ and ‘Plog’s psychographic model’) and the growth rate of tourism demand. The stages of Butler’s model are as follows: • Exploration: the stage at which the first tourists arrive at a particular tourist destination; these are generally the types of tourists that Cohen classifies as ‘explorers’ and Plog classifies as ‘allocentrics’. • Involvement: the second stage is characterized by the presence of some tourist services provided by the local population • Development: at this stage, organizations outside the tourism destination start investing in tourism infrastructure and the provision of tourism services. • Consolidation: characterized by the dominance of companies that maintain the convenience of the location competitiveness with other tourist destinations. • Stagnation: in a struggle for survival, due to the number of tourists who need to accommodate the facilities to make them economically viable. Fuster (1971), in a study published a few years before Butler's (1980) concept of the life cycle of a nation, identified several aspects that are similar to the concept described here. Fuster argued that a tourist centre may first pass through two phases: (i) no tourism, and (ii) birth, growth, saturation and 'dissolution' of tourist activity. The difference between the two phases is that the second assumes a minimal level of tourist activity; this difference, according to Fuster, is difficult to predict and in many cases is purely theoretical. It is impressive to observe many parallels between Fuster's and Butler's proposals. For example, Fuster suggests that a tourist centre may decline after the saturation phase because it no longer knows how to adapt to changing tourist preferences. The decision was made to invest in social tourism, with a primary focus on families. The Grand Hotel was renovated in 1956 and travel agents were made responsible for selling overnight stays. The following year, a ski lift was installed and skiing began immediately. Because of this initiative, other hospitals were converted into hotels and the economy of the location rose again, with Leysin considered a model holiday destination. According to Butler (2009), a future tourism destination cannot be predicted in detail due to rapid changes and intense competition. ness of the global market for tourism destinations. The tourism destination life cycle model works well with previously consolidated destinations.