Richard Butler (academic)

Richard W. Butler is an academic and professor of human geography at the University of Strathclyde. He is most known for his work in creating the tourism area cycle of evolution model or the Butler Model.

Education and career
Butler graduated with a BA at the University of Nottingham, and later a PhD at the University of Glasgow. After getting his education, he taught at the University of Western Ontario for 30 years, then at the University of Surrey where he held the position of Deputy Head at the School of Management.

Later in life, he consulted for many countries such as Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia.

The Butler Model of Tourism
The Butler Model of Tourism is a geographic model developed by Richard Butler and published through The Canadian Geographer when he was at the University of Western Ontario. The Butler Model of Tourism is primarily concerned with the number of tourists over a given time at a tourist destination or settlement. More broadly, the model also concerns itself with the economics of the community and site surrounding the destination.

This model outlines 5 key stages of a tourist attraction, usually in succession and of a more traditional resort model, not of a transitionary economic model for, say, a city. The first stage is the Discovery/Exploration Stage, where a settlement is discovered by a small number of people who tell others about their experience in said location. This leads to locals seizing the opportunity to make new economic opportunities provided by the tourists and aiming to meet their needs through small-scale services. Stage two is the Development Stage, this is where more tourists begin to arrive at the attraction due to word of mouth and small-scale guides. Because of this new economic opportunity, local government and industry prop up around the location and develop primary tourist infrastructure such as hotels, restaurants and shops. Stage three is the Consolidation Stage, where mass tourism overtakes the original economic function of the settlement. This may also lead to resentment from people who have not benefited from the new industry. There may also be a loss of local identity and culture. It may also be known as the Success Stage. The fourth is the Stagnation Stage, where the initial appeal of the destination has been lost due to development, loss of culture, or intolerance from locals. This leads to economic stagnation and potential issues as the economy relies on this attraction. Lastly, there are 3 possibilities for the fifth stage, Decline, Continued Stagnation, or Rejuvenation. The decline is often because of a worsening in the ladder caused by the stagnation stage seen above. The continued stagnation can be because of reduced reliance on the tourist attraction and instead further economic growth and development for industry not surrounding the attraction. Lastly, rejuvenation can be an effect of many efforts to make the tourist destination more attractive, such as investments in exotic tourism, ecotourism, adventure tourism or investments in companies or industries surrounding the attraction.

The Butler Model of Tourism is taught as part of the IB Diploma Programme's geography course as part of option E, leisure sport and tourism.

Awards and recognition
Butler has been recognised by the Royal Geographical Society for his contribution to theories relating to tourism, explicitly mentioning his paper entitled 'The Concept of a Tourist Area Cycle of Evolution.'