Who first put forward the life cycle theory of tourist destination?

The most authoritative tourism destination life cycle theory in the world was put forward by Canadian scholar R.W.Butler according to the concept of product life cycle. The development process of any tourist destination generally includes six stages: exploration, participation, development, consolidation, stagnation, decline or recovery. Applying the tourism destination life cycle theory to the study of urban tourism destinations can provide macro guidance for the long-term prosperity of urban tourism, help the government departments of tourism destinations to formulate reasonable industrial policies, and also help tourism investors to make correct decisions. Applying tourism theory to industrial practice will be a very meaningful research field.

The development of tourism economy promotes the development of regional economy, but the development of tourism destination itself is limited by the objective life cycle. Based on the research foundation of many scholars and the practice of tourism destination development planning for many years, this paper deeply analyzes the essence of tourism destination life cycle and its practical significance, and puts forward that the essence of tourism destination life cycle is the life cycle of tourism products. In order to break the "fate" of tourism destination development, we must continue the existing leading tourism products and update the leading tourism products. The life cycle of a tourist destination is an objective phenomenon. The life cycle theory of tourist destination provides a theoretical framework for us to study the evolution process of tourist destination, predict its development and guide its marketing and planning.