Investigation of Tourism Area Life Cycle Model in Lara Coastal Development

Studies on the tourism coastal development have been on the rise since 1970's. Tourism sector which lead to socio-cultural and economic development and also population increase play an important role on urbanization of its region. Tourism effects on urbanization are characterized by spatial dynamics. Especially in coastal resort areas, tourism occur a very specific spatial morphology. The impacts of development to a resort, whether economic, physical, or socio-cultural, are the result of a complex process of interchange among guests, host communities, and destination environment. The understanding of changes in coastal resort morphology and the related processes is useful for tourism planning and sustainable development. Several descriptions and models for morphological evolution of coastal resorts are available in tourism literature. Most popular one was Tourist Area Life Cycle (TALC) model, which is developed by R. Butler in 1980, based on the evolution of coastal resorts. According to Butler, the stages of resort evolution are exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation, and decline or rejuvenation. Over these distinct periods, there are notable changes in the tourism groups, the available infrastructure, the natural and built environment, and the local community attitude towards tourism. Researches to test or modify Butler's model are an enduring feature. A number of authors have suggested that resort morphology goes through a predictable sequence of stages: from pre-tourism, to low density development, and from high density development to an urbanized state. The aim of this study is to investigate Lara Coastal Development through tourism area life cycle model.