13. Residents’ Perceptions of Tourism Development Over the Early Stages of the TALC

Abstract

The Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) model is conceptually longitudinal; however, most studies applying the model are crosssectional. There are many reasons why the literature is dominated by cross-sectional studies. First, it is pragmatically easier to acquire information at one point in time and then analyze the data across a sample of residents of the area. Secondly, the need for expedient publication motivates most researchers to publish cross-sectional studies. Third, there are few resources available to tourism researchers by way of grants or contracts to support impact studies over a decade or more. Three notable longitudinal studies employing the life cycle model illustrate the research design complexity and the rich information available from these types of studies. The first study is ‘Lifecycle models for Pacific Island destinations’ (Choy, 1992). He employed visitation volumes over time for several popular and emergent island destinations in the Pacific. The most extensive set of data was for Hawaii and incorporated data from 1946 to 1988. Other island destinations utilized a smaller time frame for examining aggregate visitation patterns. Choy concluded that a general destination lifecycle model does not apply to most Pacific island destinations. A large variation in growth patterns was observed across the 13 destinations. Another study by Johnson and Snepenger (1992) examined tourism development in Yellowstone National Park over two decades. ‘Application of the tourism life cycle concept in the Greater Yellowstone Region’ applied several elements to the TALC !/ the traditional tourism impact dimension, visitation trends, economic indicators, and biological indicators for the ecosystem. They concluded that tourism in the Greater Yellowstone is an intricate system where multifaceted parts can be in different stages of the TALC and that public land managers, private entrepreneurs and local government decision makers should coordinate development and maintenance of tourism assets.