Carrying capacity, Doxey, Butler, and Plog

Carrying capacity, Doxey, Butler, and Plog

Majorca Majorca is an island off the coast of Spain. Watch this video and, from the images, construct a genius loci for Majorca. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bit863r0eq

Remember the paradoxes of tourism? Travellers destroy what they seek. Tourists don t like to be around other tourists. Tourism destinations promise a place uncorrupted by other tourists. Tourists escape from their everyday life to find the perfect copy of their reality (in environmental bubbles). Tourists seek destinations with good connections and accessibility, but they don t like crowds at all.

If we consider these paradoxes, do you think Majorca would be a good place to visit?

Majorca Majorca has around 700,000 residents and every year around 11,000,000 tourists, many from Britain and Germany visit. Why do you think they would choose to go to Majorca? What sort of problems do you think all of this tourism might cause? Watch the video and make a list of some of the problems. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qydwazm9tba

Carrying Capacity "Tourism Carrying Capacity" is defined by the World Tourism Organization as The maximum number of people that may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without causing destruction of the physical, economic, socio-cultural environment and an unacceptable decrease in the quality of visitors' satisfaction.

Carrying Capacity The concept is popular with wildlife managers. It refers to how many animals can exist in an area. For example, if an animal has no natural predators, it may reproduce to the point where the species has problems finding sufficient food or disease spreads easily. Then, carrying capacity has been exceeded.

Carrying Capacity Unfortunately, there are no studies that support the idea of tourism carrying capacity. For example, in areas where the goal is to maintain pristine nature, any visitors would have some negative impact.

Carrying Capacity It is difficult to find a maximum number of visitors because this also depends on what type of visitors you have. For example, a large group of bird watchers would have less impact on a natural area than a large group of schoolchildren. Impacts may also be seasonal. More people visit national parks in summer than in winter.

Carrying Capacity Four types of carrying capacity are Physical carrying capacity Economic carrying capacity Social carrying capacity Biophysical carrying capacity

Physical carrying capacity Physical carrying capacity is the maximum number of visitors an area can support. For an attraction like a museum, it is how many visitors can be inside while still allowing people to move around.

Economic carrying capacity Economic carrying capacity is how much change takes place at a destination. For example, imagine a farm supply store closing and being reopened as a souvenir shop. Where would farmers buy supplies? It also refers to how much inflation takes place because of tourism. If outsiders want to buy vacation homes at a destination, what happens to housing prices?

Social carrying capacity Social carrying capacity refers to how local people feel about tourism development. We can see this in Doxey s irritation index. When local people no longer want tourists and tourists no longer want to visit a destination, social carrying capacity has been exceeded.

Biophysical carrying capacity Biophysical carrying capacity is how much damage the natural environment can manage. In some ways, the natural environment can heal itself. When this ability is lost, this type of carrying capacity has been exceeded. It can also refer to physical infrastructure.

Too Much Tourism? (video) Snowdonia National Park was established in 1951 as the third National Park in Britain, following the Peak District and the Lake District. It covers 827 square miles (2,140 km 2 ), and has 37 miles (60 km) of coastline.

Unlike national parks in other countries, Snowdonia (and other such parks in Britain) are made up of both public and private lands under central planning authority.

More than 26,000 people live within the Park, of whom about 62% can speak at least some Welsh. The Park attracts over 6 million visitors annually, split almost equally between day and staying visitors, making it the third most visited National Park in England and Wales.

As you watch the video, see if you can find examples where different types of carrying capacity have been exceeded?

Section 1 Snowdonia is a national park in Welshspeaking Wales. It is quite beautiful, but the millions of tourists who visit may be spoiling that beauty. The idea of national parks in England was first formed in the 19 th Century. A film shows the arguments for preserving the English countryside so everyone could enjoy it. Besides farming, it is the main economic asset in the area.

Section 2 A visitor center opened at the top of the mountain in 2009. It replaced an older building and is designed to take the extreme winds and weather conditions on top of the mountain. Climbing the mountain takes three hours, but there is also a train to the top. While the mountain is very popular, some think it is too popular and there are too many people.

Section 2 Some believe the visitor center should not have been built and that the mountain should have been left in its original, wild condition. However, because of the railway and its popularity with tourist, this idea was not followed through. One commentator even suggested using the railway cars as a visitor center in the summer, and pulling them down off the mountain in winter.

Section 3 There are few jobs there, and the pay is low. Once there was a slate (a type of stone) industry, but that has closed. There are many sheep farms, but they do not employ many people. That leaves tourism. Visitors come in the summer, with many day visitors. About one half of the locals work in tourism.

Section 4 One of the biggest problems brought by tourism is traffic. People drive their cars, and this makes the park less attractive as there is so much traffic (remember when we studied the paradoxes of tourism?). To solve this, some people suggest using public transport to get there.

Section 4 Others suggest park and ride schemes, where cars are not allowed and people use shuttles. As most people visit on Sundays and holidays, there is a problem as this is when there are the fewest buses. Also, bus services have been cut by the government.

Section 5 A new rail line has been opened on a line that was closed in the 1930s. It is very popular with visitors. Some locals, however, do not like the train because of noise and smoke. While the park authority originally opposed the railway, it makes a lot of money so local politicians love it. It is especially popular with train enthusiasts.

Section 6 Another big problem is outsiders who come and buy houses. This drives up the price of real estate so locals are priced out of the market. Some outsiders buy two or three houses for investments. This means that younger people leave to live somewhere more affordable. In one area of the park, half the houses are second homes.

Section 6 Therefore, during the midweek and winter there are basically no people living there. This is bad for local businesses like grocery stores. In the past, anger against people buying vacation homes lead to their being burned down by locals. Also, the Welsh language is threatened by locals leaving and outsiders moving in.

Section 7 The natural beauty is also suffering. So many hikers have lead to erosion on the mountain. This can lead to flooding and more loss of soil. Usually this area would have heavy forests, but because of hundreds of years of grazing by animals there are no more forests. As the soil erodes, the carbon is exposed from the peat and released into the atmosphere. This contributes to global warming.

Doxey's Irritation Index

Doxey's Irritation Index According to Doxey, when there is little or no tourism in an area, locals are curious and interested in outsiders. They are friendly and welcoming to visitors. As visitor numbers increase, locals become more formal in their dealings with outsiders. Tourists are no longer a novelty.

Doxey's Irritation Index As the numbers of visitors increases further, locals become concerned over things like inflation, crime, and perhaps cultural differences. Tourists are thought to be an annoyance. Eventually, locals may become hostile towards tourists. Outsiders are blamed for many of the problems at the destination. Locals may even want to curb tourism development.

Stages of Doxey s Irritation Index: Euphoria (exploration & involvement) Residents are curious and welcoming to visitors. There is little or no tourism infrastructure. Visitors are able to eat local food and live like locals do. Everybody is happy.

Stages of Doxey s Irritation Index: Apathy (Development) Locals begin to take visitors for granted. Contact becomes more formal and businesslike.

Stages of Doxey s Irritation Index: Annoyance/ Irritation (Consolidation) Local people begin to have doubts about further development. Instead of limiting growth, tourism planners try to expand infrastructure. Tourists and locals may both begin to feel exploited.

Stages of Doxey s Irritation Index: Antagonism (stagnation etc.) Locals are unhappy, but so are tourists. They may be treated with hostility and become victims of crime.

The tourism life cycle model (Butler)

The tourism life cycle model According to Butler, most destinations begin on a small scale and, of popular, continue to grow until stagnation occurs. There are six stages to his model:

1) Exploration Adventurous people looking to get off of the beaten track find a place that is special because of its natural beauty, culture, etc. Little or no tourism infrastructure exists and local people are very welcoming of visitors.

2) Involvement Locals begin to start businesses catering to increased amounts of visitors (bed and breakfasts, restaurants, guides, etc.). As most of these are locally owned, little leakage may occur, so tourist expenditures stay in the economy. Locals still feel that tourism is a pretty good thing.

3) Development Larger companies begin to see the potential in the destination and begin investing money. Larger hotels are built and some international brands may start to appear. Package tours may begin. More jobs are created through tourism, as well as accompanying construction and services. This is the beginning of mass tourism.

4) Consolidation The local economy may be based primarily on tourism by now, with many locals working within the industry. Traditional occupations such as farming and fishing may suffer. Building will continue, but some developments may begin to show their age. People will talk about how the destination used to be.

Anderson (1995) The best time to visit any tourist destination is always ten years before you actually get there. Ten years ago the fishing village still had fishermen, and the local bar still had locals. Now, it s full of people like us.

5) Stagnation People no longer want to come to the destination, so more spending is needed to try to maintain visitor levels. A lower class of clientele that is price conscious may dominate, and they will spend less. Visitors will get less enjoyment and will not recommend the place to family and friends.

6) Decline or rejuvenation? From here there are several possibilities: Rejuvenation Reduced growth Stabilization Gradual decline Immediate decline

6) Decline or rejuvenation? Survival may depend on creating new attractions or reinventing the image of the destination.

Watch this video comparing Majorca, an island off the coast of Spain, with Blackpool, England. Both went through all of the phases of the Butler model. How have they tried to rejuvenate? https://www.o2learn.co.uk/o2_video.php?vid=240

Plog has a similar model Stanley Plog said that by looking at visitors to a destination, you could tell if it was in decline or not.

Plog Destinations need to plan and control tourism development. When a place becomes too popular, it risks decline as visitors and locals become unhappy. In other words, if a destination becomes a spot for mass tourism, it may risk decline. It shows some similarities to Rogers technology adaption curve.

Plog Plog had five typologies of visitors with five corresponding stages for the destination. He said that various types of visitors can be associated with the development of the destination: Venturers/Discovery Near venturers/development Mid-centrics/Development-maturity Near dependables/maturity-decline Dependables/Decline

Discovery During this phase, a little known destination is visited by people looking to get off the beaten path. Word-ofmouth spreads, and more tourists begin to come.

Discovery Development Near venturers follow the venturers. This is the first stage in development as they require more services than their predecessors.

Development The media begins to notice and does features on the destination. Rapid growth ensues, and mid-centric travelers begin to visit. As visitor numbers increase, local authorities are happy because of the additional revenue. Mass tourism has arrived, and the venturers and near-venturers have moved on to another place. Action must be taken before decline begins.

Maturity Decline Development has become unsustainable. The area becomes touristy (remember Hawaii is just like New Jersey from the earlier video). The destination has lost its uniqueness. According to Plog, if 30 percent of visitors have come on package tours, decline is inevitable.

Decline The destination only attracts what Plog labeled psychocentric visitors (dependables) who visit the same places every vacation. They spend less and stay shorter periods than others, so the destination is less profitable. It is time for rejuvenation or decline will continue.

Cruise tourism in Alaska Watch the video about cruise tourism. How can you apply what we have learned in this section to how Alaskan residents are reacting to cruise tourists. Work in groups. You have a script of the video available to consult. It is the first video here: http://videos.leasowes.dudley.sch.uk/play/main/world_tourism_case_studies