Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 3.7:
Model of a tourism
attraction system
Source:
based on Leiper (1990)
These ideas were developed further in Leiper's model of a tourist attraction system
(Figure 3.7), breaking the established view that tourists are not simply 'attracted' or
'pulled' to areas on the basis of their attractions. Instead, visitors are motivated to
experience a nucleus and its markers in a situation where the marker reacts positively
with their needs and wants. Figure 3.7 identifies the linkages within the model and how
tourist motivation is influenced by the information available and the individual's
perception of their needs. Thus, an attraction system may develop only when the
following have become connected:
• a person with tourist needs
• a nucleus (a feature or attribute of a place that tourists seek to visit)
• a marker (information about the nucleus).
This theoretical framework has a great deal of value in relation to understanding the
supply of urban tourism resources for visitors. First, it views an attraction system as a
subsystem of the larger tourism system in an urban area. Second, it acknowledges the
integral role for the tourist as consumer: without the tourist (or day tripper) the system
would not exist. Third, the systems approach offers a convenient social science
