YOU WILL LEARN: APPLICATION OF THE MODEL TO SPAIN’S COSTA del SOL APPLYING TODAYS TOURIST DESTINATIONS TO THE MODEL

 Based on MEDC tourism  Life Cycle of a Resort  Tourism viewed as a resource  6 Stages ◦ Exploration ◦ Involvement ◦ Development ◦ Consolidation ◦ Stagnation ◦ Decline OR Rejuvenation

 Small number of tourist attracted by culture / natural beauty  Limited numbers  Few facilities exist

 Large numbers of tourists  Control of market moves from locals to external bodies e.g. TNC’s  Conflict between residents and tourists

 At this stage mass tourism replaces what was once the original economic function of the settlement.  It may appear that the local culture is being diminished by a more international culture

 Tourist numbers plateau  Older facilities seen as “second rate”  Peak tourist numbers reached  Resort no longer fashionable

 Attractiveness continues to decline  Visitors lost to other resorts / destinations  Resort becomes dependant on day / weekend visitors from limited geographical area  Unless efforts made to modernise and rejuvenate resort will continue to decline

Spain - Costa del Sol

 Exploration ◦ 1960’s only 0.4 million tourists to the Costa del Sol, visiting for the beach holidays  Involvement ◦ 1970's numbers rose to 3 million. ◦ Farmland built on, infrastructure improved. ◦ Transition from resource based to demand based  Development & Consolidation ◦ 1980’s numbers rocketed to 7 million (carrying capacity reached) ◦ Clubs, bars, restaurants and more hotels were built, leading to environmental degradation.

 Stagnation ◦ Late 1980’s area began to stagnate, and was no longer fashionable. ◦ Attractive mountainous area blocked by large hotel developments, ◦ Beaches dirty from litter left by tourists ◦ Polluted from excessive sewage. ◦ Strain on resources e.g. water  It takes gallons to run a luxury hotel for a day.

 Decline OR Rejuvenation?? ◦ 1990s Costa del Sol began rejuvenation. ◦ Beaches tidied &achieved EU Blue Flag ◦ VAT cut to 6% to encourage tourists and businesses ◦ Tourism began to diversify to eco tourism and heritage tourism.  Development of Coto Donana national park to 'Costa Donana’ abandoned  Wetland area popular with rare birds  Previous development had seen a drop in the water table and the death of wild birds form pesticide contamination

 In pairs apply the resorts you have been given to the larger copy of the model.  Discuss your reasons for placing the resorts at a stage of the model.  Finalise the applied model with a class discussion.