the tourism life cycle

Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model: A simple explanation

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Prof. Richard Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model is a core theoretical underpinning for many tourism research and analyses. It is also a core component of many travel and tourism management curriculums. But what does it mean?

In this article I will give you a simple explanation of Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model. I promise, by the end of this short post you will understand exactly how this model works and why it is so important in travel and tourism management….

So what are you waiting for? Read on to find out more..

What is Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model?

How did the tourism area life cycle model come about, #1 exploration, #2 involvement, #3 development, #4 consolidation, #5 stagnation, #6 decline or rejuvenation, the positive aspects of butler’s tourism area life cycle model, the negative aspects of butler’s tourism area life cycle model, to conclude.

Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model provides a fundamental underpinning to travel and tourism management of destinations. Not sure what that means? Well, basically, it is the theory underneath the story.

It sounds complicated on the outside, doesn’t it? But actually, it really isn’t complicated at all!

Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model is a simplistic linear model. Using a graph, it plots the different stages in tourism development in accordance with the x and y axis of tourist number growth and time. Within this, Butler’s model demonstrates 6 stages of tourism development.

OK, enough with the complicated terminology- lets break this down further. What is Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model in SIMPLE language?

To put it simply; Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model is a line graph that shows the different stages in tourism development over time.

Whilst sustainable tourism has been a buzz word for a while now, it wasn’t always the focus of tourism planning and development .

Back in the 1970s and 1980s many tourism entrepreneurs and developers were not thinking about the longevity of their businesses (this still happens a lot, particularly in developing countries, where education and training may be limited). These business men and women simply saw Dollar signs and jumped right in.

The result? Ill-thought out plans and unsustainable tourism endeavours.

Examples of unsustainable tourism with ill-thought out long term plans include: Overtourism in Maya Bay, Thailand , littering on Mount Everest and the building of unsightly high-rise hotels in Benidorm.

Professor Richard Butler wanted to give stakeholders in tourism some guidance. Something generic enough that it could be applied to a range of tourism development scenarios; whether this be a destination , resort, or tourist attraction .

This saw the birth of Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model.

Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model: How does it work?

OK, lets get down to it- how does this theory actually work?

Well, actually it’s pretty simple.

Butler created a visual, graphical depiction of tourism development. People like visuals- it helps us to understand. You can see this below.

As you can see in the image above, Butler identified six stages of tourist area evolution.

The axis do not have any specific numbers, which means that this model can easily be applied to a number of different situations and contexts.

The intention is for those who are involved with tourism planning and development to use this model as a guide. This can encourage critical thinking and the development of alternative and contingency plans. It helps to develop sustainable tourism practices.

The six stages of tourist area evolution

Butler outlined six specific stages of tourism development. Well, actually it’s five specific stages and the last ‘stage offers a variety of outcomes (I’ll explain this shortly).

Butler wanted to demonstrate that tourism development, like many things in life, is not a static process. It experiences change. Changes happens for many reasons- growth in tourism numbers, changes in taste, marketing and the media, external influences such as natural disasters or terrorism.

Butler’s model demonstrates that tourism destinations or attractions will typically follow the path outlined, experiencing each of the six stages. This will happen at different paces and at different times for different types of tourism development.

Below, I will explain which each stage of tourist evolution is referring to.

The exploration stage marks the beginning.

Tourism is limited. The social and economic benefits are small.

Tourist attractions are likely to be focused on nature or culture .

This is the primary phase when Governments and local people are beginning to think about tourism and how they could capitalise and maximise their opportunities in this industry.

This is the start of tourism planning .

The involvement stage marks the beginning of tourism development.

Guest houses may start to open. Foreign investors may start to show an interest in development. Governments may be under pressure to develop transport infrastructure and community resources, such as airports, road layouts and healthcare provision.

The involvement stage may mark the emergence of seasonality in tourism.

During the development stage there will be lots of building and planning.

New roads, train stations and airports may be built. New tourist attractions may emerge. Hotels and hospitality provisions will be put in place.

During the development phase there will likely be an increase in marketing and promotion of the destination. There could be increased media and social media coverage.

During this time the tourist population may begin to out-number the local population. Local control becomes less common and top-down processes and international organisations begin to play a key role in the management of tourism.

During the consolidation stage tourism growth slows. This may be intentional, to limit tourist numbers or to keep tourism products and services exclusive, or it may be unintentional.

There will generally be a close tie between the destination’s economy and the tourism industry. In some cases, destinations have come to rely on tourism as a dominant or their main source of income.

Many international chains and conglomerates will likely be represented in the tourism area. This represents globalisation and can have a negative impact on the economy of the destination as a result of economic leakage .

It is during this stage that discontent from the local people may become evident. This is one of the negative social impacts of tourism .

The stagnation stage represents the beginning of a decline in tourism.

During this time visitor numbers may have reached their peak and varying capacities may be met.

The destination may simply be no longer desirable or fashionable.

It is during this time that we start to see the negative impacts of overtourism . There will likely be economic, environmental and social consequences.

The final stage of Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model represents a range of possible outcomes for the destinations along the spectrum between rejuvenation and decline.

The outcome of this will depend upon the plans and actions of the stakeholders of said tourism development project.

Complete rejuvenation can occur through major redevelopments. Perhaps new attractions are added, sustainable tourism approaches are adopted or there is a change in the target market.

Modest rejuvenation may occur with some smaller adjustments and improvements to the general tourism infrastructure and provision.

If changes do not occur, there may be a slow continuation of tourism decline.

In severe circumstances, there may be a rapid decline of the tourism provision. This is likely due to a life-changing event such as war, a natural disaster or a pandemic.

What happens after complete decline?

Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many tourism destinations and attractions experiencing the drastic decline identified in Butler’s most pessimistic scenario.

These areas will likely either experience one of two possible outcomes-

1- Tourism infrastructure will be used for alternative means. Hotels may become retirement homes and tourism attractions will be replaced with non-tourism facilities. The area may become run down and impoverished as a result of the economic loss.

2- Tourism development will start again. Many destinations have taken this opportunity to re-evaluate and reimagine their tourism infrastructure. Improvements can be made and more sustainable practices can be adopted. The destination will start again at the beginning of Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle.

Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model is great because it provides simplistic theoretical guidance to tourism stakeholders.

Those who are just starting out can use this model to plan their tourism infrastructure and development. It encourages critical thinking and long-term thinking.

However, Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model can also be criticised for its simplicity.

Without sufficient knowledge and training, tourism stakeholders may not understand this model and therefore may not adequately utilise it.

The linear approach taken with this module does not account for unique and unaccounted for occurrences. In other words, not every destination or attractions may follow these stages in this way.

Lastly, being developed back in 1980, Butler’s model fails to account for many of the complexities of today’s travel and tourism industry. The biggest downfall is the redundancy of references to sustainability.

Sustainability is at the core of everything that we do in today’s world, so it is perhaps outdated thinking to assume that all destinations will reach consolidation in the way that it is represented in Butler’s model.

Wow, who knew I would be able to write 1500 all about Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model? Well, in actual fact, I could easily write another 1500! This theory is an important part of the tourism curriculum and is important for travel and tourism students to understand, as well as a variety of tourism stakeholders.

Want to learn more? Follow along on social media or subscribe to my newsletter for conceptual and practical travel tips and information!

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Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) and the Quality of Life (QOL) of Destination Community Revisited

• First Online: 24 September 2023

Cite this chapter

• Muzaffer Uysal 11 ,
• Eunju Woo 12 &
• Manisha Singal 13  

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life ((IHQL))

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This chapter examines the connection between the tourism (TALC) and its effects on the quality of life (QOL) of destination communities. We posit that as destinations go through structural changes over time, the extent to which the dynamics of change affect the QOL of the resident community vary with the stages of the life cycle. The chapter consists of four major sections. After a brief introduction, the first section presents the concept of TALC and describes the development phases and the indicators that help understand tourism area development. The second section provides a brief discussion on the impact of tourism on the community in relation to TALC, which is then followed by the third section which focuses on the adjustment to change and maintaining the QOL of the community. Section four reviews the literature to support the relation between TALC and QOL of communities. The chapter ends with describing critical issues for future research, outlining some of the difficulties moving forward, and formulating relevant policy implications that may help the researchers and destination management organizations to further examine important issues that surround TALC and QOL connections.

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Uysal, M., Woo, E., Singal, M. (2023). Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) and the Quality of Life (QOL) of Destination Community Revisited. In: Uysal, M., Sirgy, M.J. (eds) Handbook of Tourism and Quality-of-Life Research II. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31513-8_19

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The Tourism Area Life Cycle

Review, relevance and revision.

• Edited by: Richard Butler
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• Language: English
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• Keywords: Management & management techniques ; Tourism industry
• Planned Publication: August 13, 2024
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The 6 phases of a tourist destination’s life cycle

What is the life cycle of a tourist destination according to Butler?

Life cycle graph of a tourism destination.

Since the mid-20th century , thanks to factors such as the emergence of commercial flights, higher household incomes and the regularization of paid vacations, among others, tourism has become a mass phenomenon .

Until then, this was an activity that had been carried out empirically, causing some tourism projects to become unsustainable over time. In order to have a guide that would allow planners and developers to anticipate problems and create alternative or contingency plans, the need to create a model with the different stages of development of a tourist destination was considered.

The great beneficiaries of this model on the phases through which a tourist destination moves through are the tour operators or wholesalers , who determine how to sell a tourist package taking into account the specific phase of a destination’s development cycle.

There are many examples of wholesale travel agencies that analyze, research and apply these studies to increase the profitability of their products.

Understanding the tourism life cycle is crucial for stakeholders in the tourism industry . This concept not only helps in recognizing the current stage of a destination but also in strategizing for sustainable growth and development. As tourism evolves from a niche activity to a mass phenomenon, recognizing each phase within the tourism life cycle becomes a pivotal tool for effective management and planning.

To answer this question, Richard Butler, Emeritus Professor at the Strathclyde Business School in Glasgow, created the Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) in 1980. In it, he essentially equates the evolution of destinations with that of products or services .

Butler seeks to demonstrate that tourism is not a static process, but that it evolves or declines according to factors such as destination discovery, visitor flow, support from authorities, the relationship between tourists and locals, infrastructure, etc.

To create his model, Butler used a number of theories related to other fields , such as sociology, biology and the life cycle of products in international commerce. The TALC has become a widely used tool as a theoretical foundation for research and analysis of the tourism sector.

According to Butler’s model, tourism destinations go through six evolutionary phases , although it is important to mention that not all destinations invariably go through each of them.

Exploration

In this first phase the destination receives few visitors , lured by natural attractions, such as pristine beaches; or by its culture, such as handicrafts or ethnic groups. It is precisely the lack of infrastructure that attracts the attention of the first tourists. The physical environment and its population are little affected by the presence of visitors, and the economic benefits are limited. There is usually a positive relationship between locals and tourists.

Involvement

In this phase, local people start businesses aimed at tourists , such as guesthouses, restaurants or tours. Investors show interest in developing future projects.

Governments are pressured by the need to develop tourism infrastructure. It begins with the promotion of the destination, which gives rise to the phenomenon of seasonality.

Development

The flow of visitors increases, as well as the digital promotion of the destination . Tour operators and tourism promoters take the opportunity to launch their promotional campaigns advertising the destination on travel agencies’ social networks in order to reach a larger target audience. At this stage, infrastructure grows , especially related to transportation. Natural and cultural attractions may become less important due to the emergence of new artificial attractions .

Occasionally, control of the tourism market passes from local hands to external companies . The standard of living of the inhabitants generally improves, however, the relationship they have with tourists can become strained.

The development phase in the tourism life cycle is a critical turning point, where effective management can significantly influence the future trajectory of a destination . At this juncture, understanding the intricacies of the tourism life cycle allows for the implementation of strategies that balance growth with sustainability. This ensures that the destination remains attractive and viable for future visitors while preserving its natural and cultural assets.

Consolidation

During this stage growth slows, but continues to rise . This may be intentional, to preserve the exclusivity of services, or not.

Tourism becomes fundamental for the economy of the area, generally being its main source of income . The aim is to increase the stay of visitors, their per capita expenditure and to deseasonalize visits.

Due to foreign companies setting up in the region, there is a drain of capital. Other negative effects may be felt, such as wear and tear on the infrastructure and dissatisfaction of the local population with tourism.

During this phase, tourism demand begins to decline and stagnate . The destination is no longer fashionable, so an alternative or conservative market is sought. Economic, environmental and social problems arise.

As destinations reach the stagnation phase and face challenges in attracting new visitors, harnessing the power of data and insights is essential .

Dive into our in-depth analysis on leveraging Google Travel Insights for strategic tourism growth and innovation, where we explore the transformative power of data in the tourism industry.

Decline or rejuvenation

In the last stage there are two scenarios: decline, where the destination loses affluence and cannot compete with other destinations that are in earlier stages. When this happens, the tourism infrastructure is usually put to another use.

This decline is usually gradual, but can also occur abruptly and unexpectedly due to external events (for example, the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, considered by the UNWTO as the worst year in history for tourism).

Another course that a destination can take after stagnation is rejuvenation , where efforts are combined to shift the destination’s focus, become more sustainable and target other markets.

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Butler’s graph is a linear model in which the different stages are plotted along X and Y axes, representing the number of visitors and time, respectively.

A great number of tourist sites have been analyzed according to the Butler model, such is the case with a 2009 study carried out by Carlos Rogelio Virgen Aguilar on Puerto Vallarta. Broadly speaking, these were his conclusions:

Several factors influenced the discovery of Puerto Vallarta, undoubtedly an important one was that it became the location for the 1964 film “The Night of the Iguana” , directed by John Houston.

In the following years Puerto Vallarta experienced a boom from 2,687 hotel units in 1975 to 10,029 in 1992. An international airport was built in 1970 and the tourist infrastructure was improved.

After this stage, where the average annual rate was 15.2%, growth slowed down and even decreased , but showed a slight increase from 2001 to 2005, with condominiums being the predominant choice (non-hotel offering) .

After 2005, no new attractions were created to attract a greater number of tourists , nor did they seek to increase per capita spending. Undoubtedly, the offer of condominiums affected the hotel sector, while the neighboring destination, Nuevo Vallarta, attracts a large part of the region’s tourism.

Butler’s model is an important analysis tool that allows for the future planning of a tourist destination and the development of action plans that will allow it to reinvent itself once it goes beyond the consolidation phase.

As we wrap up our discussion on the life cycle of tourist destinations, understanding the crucial role of expert management in these phases is paramount. Delve into our dedicated exploration to grasp the full scope of the benefits of a travel management company , where we dissect their pivotal role and offer a comprehensive view of their operational strategies and advantages.

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Marc Truyols has a degree in Tourism from the University of the Balearic Islands. Marc has extensive experience in the leisure, travel and tourism industry. His skills in negotiation, hotel management, customer service, sales and hotel management make him a strong business development professional in the travel industry.

Mize is the leading hotel booking optimization solution in the world. With over 170 partners using our fintech products, Mize creates new extra profit for the hotel booking industry using its fully automated proprietary technology and has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue across its suite of products for its partners. Mize was founded in 2016 with its headquarters in Tel Aviv and offices worldwide.

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Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC)

Tourism is one of the biggest industries in the world. It is a very dynamic industry and changing constantly. Tourist attractions are often fragile and therefore require careful management.

Therefore, a good number of writers have initiated conversations concerning the carrying capacity and sustainability of attractions over the years. One of the most prominent ones is Professor Richard W. Butler, a geographer and professor of tourism. He came up with a model called Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC) which is based on Product Life Cycle concept. The model can be used to study tourist attractions to see how they change over time.

Stages in Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC)

Butler’s model for the life cycle of a tourist destination has a number of stages as follows:

                                                                                             Photo credit: Pinterest

Exploration in Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC)

Exploration is the first stage of the model. It is a stage where a very limited number of visitors visit the area. Visitors usually make their individual travel arrangements, and the pattern of visitation is irregular. The area may have attracted the visitors, usually the non-local ones due to its cultures and scenic beauty.

In this stage, local people are not involved in money making from tourist-related activities, and therefore, enjoy a very little or no economic benefits from their interactions with the tourists. Some parts of Canadian Arctic and Latin America can be used as examples of the exploration stage. Likewise, some sites in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Saudi Arabia can also be considered in this regard.

Involvement in Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC)

Involvement is the stage where the number of people visiting the area is increasing. Therefore, residents now see economic benefits in providing some facilities such as food, accommodation, guides, and transport to the tourists.

As the stage progresses, some marketing efforts to take the attraction out there are in place and a recognised tourist season is somehow realised. This stage puts pressure on local and national authorities to contribute to the development of the area by providing and improving transport infrastructure and other facilities for visitors. Examples of this stage include less developed islands and less accessible areas in many parts of the world.  

Development in Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC)

Development is a stage where the area becomes widely recognised as a tourist attraction, partly because of heavy advertising and promotional efforts. As the attraction is becoming known and popular, investors and tourist companies see opportunities for financial gains.

Consequently, more cultural attractions and facilities such as big hotels, restaurants, bars, arenas, and convention centres are developed to supplement the original attraction. In this stage, particularly during the holiday season, tourists may start outnumbering the local people.

Local people are most likely to lose control of the development of the area. Examples of this stage includes some developed islands and areas in Mexico, Turkey, India, Philippines, Maldives, Indonesia, north and west African coasts, and many other places.

Consolidation in Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC)

Consolidation is the stage where the numbers of visitors are higher than the permanent residents. The local economy is dominated by tourism at this stage. Tourism businesses will push for further expansion of the attraction.

However, some local people, particularly those who are not involved in tourism development, will be unhappy and oppose tourism activities due to their impact on socio-cultural environment. Examples of this stage can be found in some areas in Barcelona (Spain), Goa (India), Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa (Singapore), St. Kitts and Nevis island (the Caribbean) and many others.

Stagnation in Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC)

Stagnation as the name suggests, is the stage where many aspects of an attraction have reached maximum capacity and cannot grow any further. The local environment is polluted, and many species can no longer survive.

In this stage, the attractions depend heavily on repeat visitation and substantial marketing efforts are required to keep the business going. Examples include some attractions in Singapore which had a relatively stagnant performance last several years.

Decline in Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC)

After the stagnation stage, the area may face different possibilities. One of the possibilities is decline where the area is no longer able to compete with newer attractions. This decline stage is characterised by weekend and day trips as the attraction has lost its appeal.

As tourist facilities disappear at this stage, the involvement of permanent residents in tourism may increase due to the availability of cheaper facilities in declining market conditions. However, the area may completely lose its tourist function eventually.

Examples of decline include but of course not limited to Guaíra Falls (Paraguay, Brazil), Sutro Baths (San Francisco), Porcelain Tower of Nanjing (China), Chacaltaya Glacier (Bolivia), and  Malta’s Royal Opera House of Valletta (Johanson, 2022).

Rejuvenation in Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC)

Another possibility is rejuvenation of the area. However, for rejuvenation to happen, the attraction requires a complete change (Butler, 1980). This change can happen in two main ways as suggested by Butler.

Firstly, new man-made attractions can be introduced. Secondly, the attraction can take advantage of the previously untapped natural resources. Support for local and national governments may be necessary at this stage of the cycle. Santiago (Chile) is a good example of rejuvenation which has experienced a major transformation in the last few years.

Summary of Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC)

In conclusion, Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC) is a useful tool to understand the stages that a tourist attraction goes through in its life. It helps tourism planners and developers examine how tourist resorts can change over time in response to the changing demands of the tourist industry.

We hope the article ‘Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle Model (TALC)’ has been helpful. Please share the article link on social media to help us grow.  You may also like reading:

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Last update: 16 January 2023

References:

Butler, R. W. (1980) The concept of a tourist area cycle of evolution: implications for management of resources, The Canadian Geographer, 24, pp. 5-12

Johanson, M. (2015) The best tourist attractions that no longer exist, available at: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/attractions-no-longer-exist/index.html (accessed 02 July 2019)

Photo credit: Pinterest

Author: M Rahman

M Rahman writes extensively online and offline with an emphasis on business management, marketing, and tourism. He is a lecturer in Management and Marketing. He holds an MSc in Tourism & Hospitality from the University of Sunderland. Also, graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a BA in Business & Management Studies and completed a DTLLS (Diploma in Teaching in the Life-Long Learning Sector) from London South Bank University.

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Tourism Policy and Planning: Evaluating the Life Cycle Model in Relation to Queensland and Hawaii

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Anthony van Fossen, George Lafferty, Tourism Policy and Planning: Evaluating the Life Cycle Model in Relation to Queensland and Hawaii, Policy and Society , Volume 16, Issue 1, December 1998, Pages 50–66, https://doi.org/10.1080/10349952.1998.11876689

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This paper examines the most influential model of tourism development, the life cycle model, which has defined a ‘normal science’ of evolution for tourism destinations. The model is internally coherent, logical, easily intelligible and was used extensively as a guide to predicting development. For all destinations it postulates a path of steady growth until stagnation is reached. The model's widespread influence has discouraged policy and planning prior to stagnation. This paper illustrates the model's limitations, through a comparative analysis of tourism development in Queensland and Hawaii. Tourism growth in actual destinations does not support the model's predictions, in that some of the most attractive, but undeveloped destinations, have shown limited growth, while there are no indications of decline in established ‘mass’ destinations. Tourism growth in undeveloped areas is not inevitable, nor need developed destinations eventually stagnate. The paper argues that there is no automatic developmental progression. At all levels of development there are crisis points requiring coherent policy implementation if sustainable tourism growth is to be achieved.

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Butler's Tourism Area Life Cycle and Its Expansion to the Creative Economy

2017, The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Travel and Tourism

In 1980, R. W. Butler published his tourism area cycle of evolution model graphing a correlation of number of tourists on the y-axis and time on the x-axis. Although a location’s capacity for number of tourists and the specific number of sustainable years may vary from location to location, Butler proposed that every tourist location evolves through a common set of stages: exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation, and then some variation of rejuvenation or decline (see Figure 1). Butler’s model frames the resources that enable a region to become a tourist destination as finite and ultimately exhaustible. One adaptation of Butler’s tourism area cycle of evolution is to transfer similar concepts to the creative economy. A tourism economy plays hand in hand with the creative economy, and one can feed the other. Like Butler’s tourism areas, artists and artisans, communities, villages, towns, cities, and counties also experience economic life cycles. This creative economy life cycle assumes a circular posture that, although it seems more optimistic than Butler’s almost inevitable decline, recognizes that time is a variable scale and can be framed in more geologic than human scales. The creative economy life cycle parallels Butler’s involvement, exploration, development, consolidation, stagnation, and decline with stages moving from prosperity to self-preservation to crisis to opportunity.

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We present in this study an original assessment of the development of tourism activities in Retezat National Park using the tourism area life cycle model. Understanding the development stages is imposed by social, economic, but also taking into account the perspective of environmental management found in the rising stage. A significant part is devoted to estimate the internal and external factors, the social, economical and environmental motivations. Research was conducted in a long time and by direct experimentation, the author travelling several times to document directly in the region. The results of TALC model application reveal that currently the National Park through the development stage. The conclusive issues refers to the exhibition of some development scenarios and the implications of strategic decisions that need to take account of lifecycle factors interferences in Retezat’s tourism development.

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Butler’s tourism area life cycle and its expansion to the creative economy.

In 1980, R. W. Butler published his tourism area cycle of evolution model graphing a correlation of number of tourists on the y-axis and time on the x-axis. Although a location’s capacity for number of tourists and the specific number of sustainable years may vary from location to location, Butler proposed that every tourist location evolves through a common set of stages: exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation, and then some variation of rejuvenation or decline. Butler’s model frames the resources that enable a region to become a tourist destination as finite and ultimately exhaustible.

Rather than imagining a tourist destination always being a tourist destination, Butler recognizes that change is constant and that, ultimately, the initial reasons a location becomes a desirable tourist destination will no longer exist and the location will either need to seek rejuvenation or face decline. Embedded within Butler’s model is a call for sustainability and the conservation of resources, thereby increasing the length of time a location can maintain being a viable tourist destination. There is also an implicit call for closer collaboration and integration of the tourism industry and the local community to better shield the local community from potential exploitation or disenfranchisement.

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Hwang, Leo. 2017. "Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle and Its Expansion to the Creative Economy." The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Travel and Tourism . ed. Linda L. Lowry, SAGE Publications, Inc.

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Tourism life cycle, tourism competitiveness and upgrading strategies in the Caribbean

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Description

In the 1980s Butler adapted the life cycle product model to the tourism industry and created the “Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) model”. The model recognizes six stages in the tourism product life cycle: exploration, investment, development, consolidation, stagnation and followed, after stagnation, by decline or revitalization of the product. These six stages can in turn be regrouped into four main stages. The Butler model has been applied to more than 30 country cases with a wide degree of success. De Albuquerque and Mc Elroy (1992) applied the TALC model to 23 small Caribbean island States in the 1990s. Following De Albuquerque and Mc Elroy, the TALC is applied to the 32 member countries of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) (except for Cancun and Cozumel) to locate their positions along their tourism life-cycle in 2007. This is done using the following indicators: the evolution of the level, market share and growth rate of stay-over arrivals; the growth rate and market share of visitor expenditures per arrival and the tourism styles of the destinations, differentiating between ongoing mass tourism and niche marketing strategies and among upscale, mid-scale and low-scale destinations. Countries have pursued three broad classes of strategies over the last 15 years in order to move upward in their tourism life cycle and enhance their tourism competitiveness. There is first a strategy that continues to rely on mass-tourism to build on the comparative advantages of “sun, sand and sea”, scale economies, all-inclusive packages and large amounts of investment to move along in Stage 2 or Stage 3 (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico). There is a second strategy pursued mainly by very small islands that relies on developing specific niche markets to maintain tourism competitiveness through upgrading (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos), allowing them to move from Stage 2 to Stage 3 or Stage 3 to a rejuvenation stage. There is a third strategy that uses a mix of mass-tourism, niche marketing and quality upgrading either to emerge onto the intermediate stage (Trinidad and Tobago); avoid decline (Aruba, The Bahamas) or rejuvenate (Barbados, Jamaica and the United States Virgin Islands). There have been many success stories in Caribbean tourism competitiveness and further research should aim at empirically testing the determinants of tourism competitiveness for the region as a whole.

Table of contents

.--I. Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) Model and Concurrent Tourism Strategies.--II. Tourism Competitiveness and Tourism Performance in the Caribbean.--III. Tourism Life Cycle in the Caribbean: From Mass Tourism to Upgrading.--IV. Concluding Remarks

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