10 THE CANADIAN GEOGRAPHER larly successful Disneyland and Disneyworld,may also be able to compete effec- tively over long periods by adding to their attractions to keep in tune with contem- porary preferences.Many established tourist areas in Britain,the United States, and elsewhere attract visitors who have spent their vacations in these areas consis- tently for several decades,and the preferences of these repeat visitors show little sign of changing.In the majority of cases,though,the initial selection of the area to be visited by these people was determined by cost and accessibility rather than specific preferences. IMPLICATIONS Although a consistent evolution of tourist areas can be conceptualized,it must be emphasized again that not all areas experience the stages of the cycle as clearly as others.The establishment of what has become known as the 'instant resort'is a case in point.The process whereby areas for development,such as Cancun in Mexico,10 are selected by computer from a range of possibilities allowed by certain preselected parameters has meant that the exploration and involvement phases are probably of minimal significance,if they are present at all.Under these cir- cumstances the development phase becomes the real commencement of the cycle. Even here,however,it can be argued that,at the national scale,Mexico is ex- periencing the cycle illustrated in Figure 1.Perhaps the later stages of the cycle are more significant,then,because of the implications which they hold for tourism in general and for the planning and arrangement of tourist areas in particular. The assumption that tourist areas will always remain tourist areas and be attrac- tive to tourists appears to be implicit in tourism planning.Public and private agencies alike,rarely,if ever,refer to the anticipated life span of a tourist area or its attractions.Rather,because tourism has shown an,as yet,unlimited potential for growth,despite economic recessions,it is taken for granted that numbers of visitors will continue to increase.The fallacy of this assumption can be seen in the experi- ence of older tourist areas,such as those of southern Ontario,over the past two decades. The process illustrated in Figure 1 has two axes representing numbers of visitors and time.An increase in either direction implies a general reduction in overall quality and attractiveness after capacity levels are reached.In the case of the first visitors,the area may become unattractive long before capacity levels are reached and they will have moved on to explore other undeveloped areas.It can be anticipated also that reaction to the visitors by the local population will undergo change throughout this period,a process suggested by Doxey in his'irridex'(index of tourist irritation);the scale progresses from euphoria through apathy and irrita- tion to antagonism.11 More recent research has shown that resident reaction to tourists is not necessarily explained by increasing contact with visitors or increas- ing numbers of visitors alone.It is a more complex function,related to the charac- teristics of both visitors and visited,and the specific arrangements of the area involved.12 The direction of the curve after the period of stabilization illustrated in Figure 1 is open to several interpretations.Successful redevelopment,as for example in At-10 THE CANADIAN GEOGRAPHER larly successful Disneyland and Disneyworld, may also be able to compete effec￾tively over long periods by adding to their attractions to keep in tune with contem￾porary preferences. Many established tourist areas in Britain, the United States, and elsewhere attract visitors who have spent their vacations in these areas consis￾tently for several decades, and the preferences of these repeat visitors show little sign of changing. In the majority of cases, though, the initial selection of the area to be visited by these people was determined by cost and accessibility rather than specific preferences. IMPLICATIONS Although a consistent evolution of tourist areas can be conceptualized, it must be emphasized again that not all areas experience the stages of the cycle as clearly as others. The establishment of what has become known as the ‘instant resort’ is a case in point. The process whereby areas for development, such as Cancun in Mexico,lo are selected by computer from a range of possibilities allowed by certain preselected parameters has meant that the exploration and involvement phases are probably of minimal significance, if they are present at all. Under these cir￾cumstances the development phase becomes the real commencement of the cycle. Even here, however, it can be argued that, at the national scale, Mexico is ex￾periencing the cycle illustrated in Figure 1. Perhaps the later stages of the cycle are more significant, then, because of the implications which they hold for tourism in general and for the planning and arrangement of tourist areas in particular. The assumption that tourist areas will always remain tourist areas and be attrac￾tive to tourists appears to be implicit in tourism planning. Public and private agencies alike, rarely, if ever, refer to the anticipated life span of a tourist area or its attractions. Rather, because tourism has shown an, as yet, unlimited potential for growth, despite economic recessions, it is taken for granted that numbers of visitors will continue to increase. The fallacy of this assumption can be seen in the experi￾ence of older tourist areas, such as those of southern Ontario, over the past two decades. The process illustrated in Figure 1 has two axes representing numbers of visitors and time. An increase in either direction implies a general reduction in overall quality and attractiveness after capacity levels are reached. In the case of the first visitors, the area may become unattractive long before capacity levels are reached and they will have moved on to explore other undeveloped areas. It can be anticipated also that reaction to the visitors by the loca1 population will undergo change throughout this period, a process suggested by Doxey in his ‘irridex’ (index of tourist irritation); the scale progresses from euphoria through apathy and irrita￾tion to antagonism. ’ More recent research has shown that resident reaction to tourists is not necessarily explained by increasing contact with visitors or increas￾ing numbers of visitors alone. It is a more complex function, related to the charac￾teristics of both visitors and visited, and the specific arrangements of the area involved. The direction of the curve after the period of stabilization illustrated in Figure 1 is open to several interpretations. Successful redevelopment, as for example in At-