The life cycle of a destination – from discovery to decline

Discovery or decline?

Why not look at Plog’s profiles again

According to Stanley Plog, various tourist personality types are associated with phases in a destination life cycle because the type of tourist who visits a region indicates the area’s level of development, and in some ways determines its life cycle.

Discovery: During this phase, a little known destination is visited by the first ‘venturers’ in search of new discoveries and unexplored areas. Through word-of-mouth, the area begins to attract more tourists.

Discovery/Development: Once venturers have begun exploring a destination, they are followed by ‘near-venturers’. This creates the first major wave of visitors who – because they are more demanding in terms of services – initiate real development.

Development: With the destination’s notoriety growing, the media, always looking for something new, show up in the region and enthusiastically report on its charm and cachet. This then ‘condemns’ the destination to rapid growth and the arrival of so-called ‘centric travellers’.

Growth continues and everyone is happy: the number and value of hotels increases; jobs multiply; government coffers overflow with taxes; many areas are enhanced; local stakeholders smugly congratulate themselves on finding a gold mine and believe that tourism is the perfect industry to ensure longevity and unlimited growth. By this time, venturers and near-venturers have abandoned the area and mass tourism has arrived.

This phase is crucial because when a destination is really booming, no one cares about planning or controls. For this reason, it is important to take action at this stage to manage development and define a long-term vision.

Maturity/Decline: Riding this wave of popularity, a destination is too often lax in its regulations: the number of hotels continues to grow; fast-food restaurants pop up everywhere; shops, movie theatres and other forms of entertainment multiply; wholesalers develop packages.

The area starts to get ‘touristy’ and there is unchecked development. The destination is unable to resist the easy money of tourism and unsustainable development. Under such pressure, the destination loses its distinctiveness and looks like any other destination.

The centrics now stop coming and the ‘near-dependables’ start to frequent the area.

According to Plog, if 30% or more of a destination’s reservations come from package deals, the destination has begun a decline that will last for several decades.

Decline: Despite the boom, decline is now inevitable. The destination now only attracts dependables, who prefer to visit and revisit well-established known quantities. Though often more loyal, this clientele spends less, stays a shorter time and is less active. The destination becomes less lucrative. Deserted by the other tourist segments, the market gets smaller. Managers don’t understand what has happened because arrivals kept rising. The destination must then try to differentiate itself and reposition itself in the market.

How many times has this happened? Emerging destinations suddenly become popular and then are ignored as travellers head to newly discovered destinations. Over-crowding leads to decline and a different traveller clientele, and then everything changes!

Source: DMO World 

Valere Tjolle

@ValereTjolle [email protected]