Evaluating Tourist Attractions: The Case of Luang Prabang, Laos

Abstract

This article proposes the amalgamation of the categorization of attractions model (COA), the tourism area life cycle model, and the resort development model as a useful approach to audit a tourism destination's portfolio of attractions and to aid in the planning process. The main tourist area of the Luang Prabang Province, Laos, was used as a case study to test the usefulness of combining the three models for a better analysis. Four categories—natural, cultural, contemporary, and future—were examined. The study revealed the country to be in the development stage of tourism, although Luang Prabang Province shows some of the characteristics of an international destination. The audit identified planned developments that could lead to the portfolio becoming unaligned with the nation's tourism strategy. The process also revealed the existence and the potential for subgroups of attractions, termed associated attractions, which, in this case, emerge from natural and cultural attractions, but that are unlikely to exist without them. The study provides valuable information by investigating significant issues in tourism development particularly in an emerging market country.