Tourism Area Life Cycle

• The Tourism Area Life Cycle was conceived by Butler in 1980, and has become popular model for analyzing the development of a tourist destination.
• Stages

  1. Exploration
  2. Involvement
  3. Development
  4. Consolidation
  5. Stagnation
  6. Decline or Rejuvenation
• Exploration - The destination is "discovered" by a few people, who are mostly made up of independent travelers. They are used and owned by locals.
• Involvement- the destination experiences greater and regular visitations, and seasonal patterns may be observed. The community begins to adapt to tourism and may even begin to advertise.
• Development - Additional tourism infrastructure may be present. Tourists during peak season outnumbered the locals.
• Consolidation - growth rate in tourist arrivals declines, although numbers are still increasing.
• Stagnation- the number of tourists reaches or exceeds the carrying capacity and
• Decline or Rejuvenation- the alternative outcomes in the post-stagnation phase. Decline may ensue if the tourist market continues to wane and the resort is not able to compete with newer attraction. On the other hand, the resort may go through rejuvenation if it is able to renovate or develop an artificial attraction by exploiting previously untapped resources.