BUTLER’S TOURISM LIFE CYCLE MODEL

YOU WILL LEARN:• APPLICATION OF THE MODEL TO SPAIN’S COSTA del SOL• APPLYING TODAYS TOURIST DESTINATIONS TO THE MODEL

Based on MEDC tourism Life Cycle of a Resort Tourism viewed as a resource 6 Stages

◦Exploration◦Involvement◦Development◦Consolidation◦Stagnation◦Decline OR Rejuvenation

Butler’s Tourism Life Cycle Model

How the model is shown:

Small number of tourist attracted by culture / natural beauty

Limited numbers Few facilities exist

Exploration

Large numbers of tourists

Control of market moves from locals to external bodies e.g. TNC’s

Conflict between residents and tourists

Development

At this stage mass tourism replaces what was once the original economic function of the settlement.

It may appear that the local culture is being diminished by a more international culture

Success

Tourist numbers plateau

Older facilities seen as “second rate”

Peak tourist numbers reached

Resort no longer fashionable

Stagnation

Attractiveness continues to decline

Visitors lost to other resorts / destinations

Resort becomes dependant on day / weekend visitors from limited geographical area

Unless efforts made to modernise and rejuvenate resort will continue to decline

Decline OR Rejuvenation

Case Study Spain - Costa del Sol

Exploration◦1960’s only 0.4 million tourists to the Costa

del Sol, visiting for the beach holidays Involvement

◦1970's numbers rose to 3 million. ◦Farmland built on, infrastructure improved. ◦Transition from resource based to demand

based Development & Consolidation

◦1980’s numbers rocketed to 7 million (carrying capacity reached)

◦Clubs, bars, restaurants and more hotels were built, leading to environmental degradation.

Stagnation◦Late 1980’s area began to stagnate, and

was no longer fashionable. ◦Attractive mountainous area blocked by

large hotel developments,◦ Beaches dirty from litter left by tourists◦Polluted from excessive sewage. ◦Strain on resources e.g. water It takes 60 000 gallons to run a luxury

hotel for a day.

Decline OR Rejuvenation??

◦1990s Costa del Sol began rejuvenation.◦Beaches tidied &achieved EU Blue Flag ◦VAT cut to 6% to encourage tourists and

businesses ◦Tourism began to diversify to eco tourism

and heritage tourism. Development of Coto Donana national

park to 'Costa Donana’ abandoned Wetland area popular with rare birds Previous development had seen a drop in

the water table and the death of 30 000 wild birds form pesticide contamination

TASK In pairs apply the resorts you have been

given to the larger copy of the model. Discuss your reasons for placing the resorts

at a stage of the model. Finalise the applied model with a class

discussion.