How do tourist resorts change over time ?

Butler’s Model

Discovery

Growth

SuccessProblems !

Decline

New growth

Discovery1. The place gets very few tourists.2. Someone discovers it, and tells a few other friends

how good it is.3. They start to go to the place as well.4. Services: shops, cafes, hotels etc. start to open up

because people are staying there in enough numbers for local people to earn money.

5. Some local people stop what they were doing before.

Growth1. More people find out about the place.2. It starts to get mentioned in articles, brochures and

tourist guides.3. This means that even more people visit.4. More shops and hotels open.5. The roads to the resort get busier.

Success1. Everyone now knows about the resort.2. People move to the resort in search of work.3. During the tourist season, the place is full of

people, and hotels are full.4. Local people are now mostly employed in tourism

rather than the jobs they used to have.5. Some local people will begin to feel that the

tourists are starting to be in ‘control’.6. Traffic problems start to occur on busy days, with

car parks filling up early in the day.

Problems !1. The place gets so popular that some people

stop going there. They will say “it’s too busy” or “it’s not what it used to be like…”

2. Local people will complain that they are being ignored and that tourists get priority.

3. People start going to other places.4. Some of the shops and hotels close down.5. Some people stay away because it is so busy,

and look for somewhere ‘quieter’ or ‘prettier’ or ‘more like the real….’

2 possibilities from here:a) Decline

b) New growth

a) Decline

1. The place starts to get run down.2. Shops shut down, and charity shops move in.3. Out of season, many hotels start to be used to house

homeless people and people on benefits as a way of making a bit of money.

4. The place begins to get a ‘reputation’….5. People stay away

b) New growth

1. New money starts to come into the resort.2. Some of the older hotels are regenerated and attract new

shops to the area.3. Cafes reopen on the High Street4. People start to return to the resort out of season.5. There is a new ‘buzz’ about the place.6. Jobs start to be created.7. A whole new crowd of visitors starts to come regularly to the

resort.8. Newspapers start to write articles about the place again.