Tourism area life-cycle model and its applicability to lodging development of Langkawi Island, Malaysia

As one of Malaysia's premier tourist destinations, Langkawi Island has experienced a tremendous pace in tourism development particularly in infrastructure and accommodation. This paper aims to examine the applicability of the tourism area life-cycle model by Butler (1980) to Langkawi's lodging development. Results indicate that the island has experienced the first four stages; exploration, involvement, development and consolidation. Both government and private sector are the major players for the island's lodging development. This paper outlines a suggestion for future research.