A tourist destination is a dynamic system with many moving parts. It necessitates the analysis and understanding of particular techniques and instruments to adopt better governance and policy measures for guiding the destination along an evolutionary development route. Many ideas for investigating complex systems have been made, and some have been effectively implemented in tourist locations. According to a new suggestion, the structural and dynamic features of a tourism location are revealed by turning a time series into a network and evaluating it. Even though the method, termed visibility graph, is essential and easy to construct, it can provide many fascinating insights.
A tourist destination is a complex and convoluted collection of interconnected economic, social, and environmental variables, all of which are intricately linked. A dynamic system in which sparking events may challenge current setups and routine operations in both internal and exterior environments, whether natural or human-made, has also been identified. Apart from that, the system’s existence throws it out of equilibrium and leads to different and illogical evolutionary paths.
Focusing on tourist destinations is a helpful method to studying the phenomenon of tourism. These are the places where visitors spend most of their vacation time. A visitor can use various activities and services at a location because it has those (Stone et al., 2018). Even though it is difficult to define exactly and problematic as a word, many scholars regard it as a critical analytical unit for understanding the whole tourist phenomenon.
A destination has the characteristics of a system: it is a well-organized collection of components or parts linked somehow. It has the common aim of performing a set of specified functions or attaining specific objectives. Rather than adopting rigid predetermined views, the systemic approach provides a comprehensive framework that allows for the flexible application of different perspectives in tourist research. It allows for a better understanding of the broad problems that influence tourism while also considering the interrelationships between its many components.
Tourist destinations may be classified as systems, which is a valuable analytical tool. Pioneering research that recommended using alternative methods to examine tourism dynamics revealed the limitations and inaccuracy of current visitor forecasts and forecasting systems. Since then, there has been a rise in the quantity of literature acknowledging the complexity of tourist systems, pointing to the non-linearity of the connections between the different businesses. The non-linearity of different stakeholders’ reactions to inputs may originate from both the outside world and inside the destination. Determining if a target system is stable, complicated, or even chaotic is important, not just from a theoretical perspective. It may, however, provide important information about the potential of influencing and directing the trip toward the desired result.
The network science method has revealed significant findings on destination architecture, collaborative and cooperative group functioning, and information. Furthermore, the network approach has been extended to incorporate simulation models that may be used to create different scenarios to study the effects of various management or governance activities. This offers solid tools for all those interested in the life of a tourist location to influence their policy or management initiatives. The network viewpoint may provide various helpful results for tourist research. Still, it also has significant drawbacks, primarily due to the difficulties in gathering the data required for a complete study.
References
Leonenko, A. V., Tomenko, O. A., Brizhatyi, O. V., & Loza, T. O. (2019). Effect of recreation-oriented tourism program on the physical health of middle school-aged children.
Stone, G. A., Gagnon, R. J., Garst, B. A., & Pinckney, H. P. (2018). Interpreting perceived constraints to be ethnic and racial recreation participation using a recreation systems approach. Loisir et Société/Society and Leisure, 41(1), 154-170.
