Sustainability or stagnation?

Limits on development in tourist destinations

Abstract

Two concepts have featured heavily in academic writing on tourist destinations over the past three decades, one relating to the tourism area life cycle (TALC) and the other relating to sustainable development (SD). It is argued here that these concepts have many features in common, and that the idea of stability in the development process of a destination is dependent on that destination living within its limits, i.e. not exceeding its tourist carrying capacity. In the TALC this desired state equates to the stage of “stagnation” and for sustainable development, it represents a state of sustainability. The paper reviews the issue of implementation in the context of these concepts using two examples to illustrate how a more sustainable form of tourism might be achieved when effective control over the development and operation of tourism is implemented effectively. Keywords: tourism area life cycle, sustainable development, tourist carrying capacity, stagnation, sustainability.