The Role of Niche Tourism Products in Destination - Repository ...

particular attention in describing the decline of European coastal resorts (Cooper 1990; 1992) and latterly, in cultural and natural
heritage settings (Boyd, 2006; Lundgren, 2006; Russo, 2006; Weizenegger, 2006).
However, Butler’s discussion of each stage is generalistic and the nature of the destination entity; the type of destination and the
spatial scale requires further examination (Johnston, 2001). Numerous studies (Formica and Uysal, 1996) have been done on
destination areas larger than a resort or city scale, containing multiple destination entities, and these are all aggravated into a single
life cycle. It is difficult to compare for example an inland British resort, with a historic European destination or a coastal resort in a
developing country. Furthermore, tourism may just be one component of the local economy or its driving force. Russell (2006) also
discusses the major role that entrepreneurship can have in destination development thus again influencing the s shaped curve.
Butler’s classic sequence of events has, however, withstood the test of time and scrutiny well, but a number of criticisms focusing
on the stages of the life cycle have emerged. Young (1983) added two ‘pre-tourism’ stages, as well ammending the final stages of
stagnation into rejuvenation or decline. These are critiqued as few destinations seem to focus on the most crucial aspect of what
happens in the post stagnation stage (Knowles and Curtis, 1999). Agarwal, (1994) and Hovinen (2002) also discuss the possibility
of alternative or additional stages after the stagnation stage. Aragawal (1994) argues that the rejuvenation stage can be repeated to
offset decline, resulting in a series of peaks and troughs in this final stage. Using the development of Spanish coastal resorts as
examples, Knowles and Curtis (1999) describe three post stagnation stages: market volatility and partial rejuvenation; spiralling
decline and stabilisation. Baum (1998) also discusses additional stages constituting the total or partial abandonment of tourism as a
destinational activity, or an exit and re-entry strategy replacing the original tourism paradigm with an emergence into new,
alternative, niche markets. Another inherent problem in applying the TALC is the lack of accurate trend data for most destinations.