Life cycles, stages and tourism history: The Catalonia (Spain) Experience

To date, most analysis on the historic development of tourism has been limited to observing its evolution through a single Life Cycle identified with the mass tourism stage. However, many of the major destinations have a much longer history and seem to have passed through different consecutive Life Cycles related to different stages. Research shows the value of the Tourism Area Life Cycle combined with Regulation theory when analyzing the long-term historical development of tourism. In this article, we present the case of Catalonia, one of the main tourist destinations in Europe. The article shows how the combination of these theories can be especially practical for constructing a global model that groups tourism development by phases with its paradigmatic changes.

Research highlights
► We carry out a re-envisioning of TALC from a multidisciplinary historical approach.
► Our case study is the longue durée of the history of a mature destination: Catalonia.
► TALC in conjunction with Regulation theory creates a good framework for describing it.
► Each of the stages of Catalan tourism history can be understood through single TALC.
► Regulation explained what led the restructuring processes between these stages.