The tourism transformation process: an inquiry into the three main process phases

Over the last century many economies have transformed towards tourism and, particularly at a local level, it has been viewed as a way to supplement income and deliver sustainable economic growth (Assimiliano & Azzanti 2002; Dieke 2003; Gartner 2004; Wittwer & Horridge 2007). However, local areas have generally been left to pursue transformation on their own and have lacked the leadership and long-term decision-making tools required to appropriately guide the sustainable development of tourism destinations (Kelly 2002; Sorenson & Epps 2003). Previous poor decision-making has been attributed to a lack of knowledge surrounding how the transformation process occurs and a short-term strategic focus (Alexandra & Riddington 2007; Mishler & Rose 2007). In Australia, tourism is now a significant and influential sector in many regions (Carlsen 1999; Russell & Faulkner 1999), but the industry continues to lack the destination management models required for sustainable tourism destination development (Department of Tourism Fair Trading and Wine Industry Development & Tourism Queensland 2006; McLennan & Ruhanen 2008). To address this gap, this research aims to develop a quantitative model to explain tourism transformation by investigating whether a region's triple-bottom-line structure and institutions' change as the tourism system transforms from an inception to urban system. If they change, the study seeks to identify institutional and structural factors that are changing and how they are changing.