CHAPTER III

THEORIES ON TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

There are several theories on the development of tourist destinations, how they
have emerged, grown, and in some cases declined.
CHRISTALLER

a German geographer and planner

published an article in 1963 in which he suggested that there was a process

of continuous development of tourist areas

He discussed how a destination develops from the visit of a group of painters

searching for untouched and unusual places to paint.

Christallers ideas on how tourist areas develop can be summarized as follows:

1. Destinations develop and change over time.
2. There are different types of visitors at different times.
3. The tourist experience changes over time.
4. The impacts on the destinations change over time.
5. The involvement of locals in tourism destinations change over time.
6. New cycles involving new tourist destination will occur.
STANLEY PLOG

an American researcher

develop a theory that the popularity of a destination is related to the inherent

personalities of travelers.

He hypothesized that travelers can be classified based on their different

personalities, as psychocentrics and allocentrics.

COHEN

developed a theory which is related to the behavior of tourists.

He classified the typology of tourists into four namely;

1. Organized mass tourists

- these tourists travel in groups.
- they buy a packaged tour which is arranged in advance by a travel agent or a tour
operator.
2. Individual mass tourist
- each member of the group has a certain degree of control over his time and
itinerary and is not bound to a group.
- he makes his individual decision about his activities.
3. Explorers
- such tourists arrange their own trip.
- they associate with the local residents and try to speak the local language.
- they do not adopt completely the lifestyle of the host country.
4. Drifters
- these tourists avoid contact with other tourists.
- they stay with the locals and share their food, shelter, and habits.
- they are almost totally immersed in the host culture.
- they retain only the most basic of their native customs.
- they do not consider themselves as tourist.
DOXEY

proposed a theory called Irritation Index or in short Irridex.

this theory suggests that over time, as the locals become more hostile to
visitors, the number of visitors will not continue to grow at the same previous
rate and may actually decline.

Euphoria

Apathy

Visitors are welcome and there is a little

planning.

Visitors are taken for granted and contact

becomes more formal.

Annoyance
Saturation is approached and the local people have misgivings.
Planners
attempt to control via increasing infrastructure
rather than limiting growth.

Antagonism
Open expression of irritation and planning is remedial, yet
promotion is
increased to offset the deteriorating
reputation of the resort.

BUTLER

a geographer

developed his theory or model which was built on the ideas of Christaller,
Plog, Cohen and Doxey.

Butlers theory appeared in 1980 in which he, not only acknowledge that this
theory was based on earlier theories but he also indicated that it was based
on the business concept of the product life cycle.

- In 1998, Butler reconsidered his model.

- He showed that despite some criticisms, after almost 20 years, there was
much support for his original model.

He suggested that the following key points confirmed the validity of his original
theory:
1. The key concept is dynamism. Destinations change over time.
2. There is a common process of development of tourist destinations.
3. There are limits to growth. If the demand for visits is more than the capacity of
the destination, the number of visitors will decrease and subsequently decline.
4. There are triggers or factors that bring about change in a destination.
5. Management is an important factor. Good management is needed to avoid the
decline stage of the destination.
6. Long-term view. There is a need to look ahead for 50 years, not 5 years, to avoid
the failures suggested by the model.

7. Spatial component. There is a possibility that tourists will go elsewhere as the

destination declines.
8. Universal applicability. The model applies to all destinations.