On 'Butterflies' and 'Moments': A conceptual framework for understanding tourism destination evolution

Recent research on tourism destination evolution has put forward the concept of ‘moments’ as a possible lens through which to analyse the key inflection points, paths, processes, scapes and flows underpinning tourism... [ view full abstract ]

Recent research on tourism destination evolution has put forward the concept of ‘moments’ as a possible lens through which to analyse the key inflection points, paths, processes, scapes and flows underpinning tourism destination evolution (Sanz Ibañez et al, 2016). The moments concept is embedded within current thinking on socio-ecological resilience in tourism, insofar as it draws upon the emergent evolutionary economic geography (EEG) paradigm that is increasingly gaining ground in tourism studies.

Taking a theoretical standpoint, this paper takes the ‘moments’ idea one step further by developing a conceptual framework for visually representing the tourism destination evolution process – punctuated by ‘moments’ and engulfed in its respective context of scapes and flows. We refer to this representational framework as a ‘butterfly’, due to its visual resemblance to a butterfly’s shape, as well as for its metaphorical resonance with the ‘butterfly effect’ in complexity and chaos-related theoretical constructs, also present in studies on tourism evolution.

To illustrate the framework’s representational capacity in terms of scope and potential for tourism evolutionary destination studies, we draw on empirical examples of well-studied, arguably ‘paradigmatic’ destinations where the evolution of tourism and relative levels of socio-ecological and economic resilience are clearly interlinked. We argue that the butterfly framework might usefully be employed in any destination context and at any geographical scale, as a departure from existing approaches to conceptualising change in tourism places.

Finally, we analyse the framework’s potential use as a strategic tool for socio-spatial visioning and resilience-building in tourism destination planning and management.

Keywords:
Evolutionary Economic Geography; Tourism, Regional Development, Moments, Butterfly framework, Socio-Ecological Resilience

The research that this paper is based on was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (reference CSO2014-51785-R). The MOVETUR project aims to develop an innovative analytical, conceptual and methodological framework for analysing how tourism destinations are transformed by the multiple mobilities inherent in contemporary societies, as well as understanding the effects of these mobilities on the development, attractiveness and inter-place / urban competition of places of different scales. www.moveturproject.org