Evolution of tourism in natural destinations and dynamic sustainable thresholds over time

Abstract

Tourism is a complex industry involving numerous types of activities that can have adverse environmental impacts and, over time, gradually change the way tourists experience tourist destinations and their choice of particular tourist destinations. The overall aim of this study is to examine the impact of tourism destination exploitation upon the perceived attractiveness of a particular destination to different types of visitors using the Purism Scale coupled to the Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC). The study uses the system dynamics Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) approach, to analyse feedback loop behaviour and causal loop impacts over time. The results show that the different visitors' types, as defined by the Purist Scale, affect the attractiveness of the tourist destination in different ways over time. The results further show that different visitors' types cannot exist at their own optimum level at the same time in a destination. The concept tourism carrying capacity should thus be defined through the maximum site attractiveness,-based upon the optimum size of infrastructure that ensures low visual effect, low crowding effect, and low environmental impact. This enables better understanding of the different evolution phases of the tourist site during its push for infrastructure development.