Butler's model describes how tourist resorts typically progress through six stages: discovery, growth, success, problems, and then either decline or new growth. In the discovery stage, a few tourists discover the place and tell friends, starting small services. Growth sees more publicity and visitors supporting more shops and hotels. Success finds the resort widely known and reliant on tourism. Problems arise as overcrowding drives some tourists away. This can lead to decline as the resort becomes run down, or new growth if issues are addressed and a new kind of tourism is attracted.

1. How do tourist resorts change over time ?

2. Butler’s Model New growth Problems ! Success Decline Growth Discovery

3. Discovery The place gets very few tourists. Someone discovers it, and tells a few other friends how good it is. They start to go to the place as well. Services: shops, cafes, hotels etc. start to open up because people are staying there in enough numbers for local people to earn money. Some local people stop what they were doing before.

4. Growth More people find out about the place. It starts to get mentioned in articles, brochures and tourist guides. This means that even more people visit. More shops and hotels open. The roads to the resort get busier.

5. Success Everyone now knows about the resort. People move to the resort in search of work. During the tourist season, the place is full of people, and hotels are full. Local people are now mostly employed in tourism rather than the jobs they used to have. Some local people will begin to feel that the tourists are starting to be in ‘control’. Traffic problems start to occur on busy days, with car parks filling up early in the day.

6. Problems ! 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…” Local people will complain that they are being ignored and that tourists get priority. People start going to other places. Some of the shops and hotels close down. Some people stay away because it is so busy, and look for somewhere ‘quieter’ or ‘prettier’ or ‘more like the real….’

7. 2 possibilities from here:a) Declineb) New growth

8. a) Decline The place starts to get run down. Shops shut down, and charity shops move in. 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. The place begins to get a ‘reputation’…. People stay away