Methodology

In B.C., Tourism Potential Modelling has gone through three distinct stages of development.
These three stages of evolution are the 1991-1999 tourism capability modelling at a scale of
1:250,000, then 1:20,000 tourism capability modelling from 1994-2000, and finally the suitability
mapping of tourism products at varying scales of 1:20,000 to 1:250:000 which has become popular
since 2001. The first stage of development from 1991-1999 consisted of three steps: 1) determining
the capability of resources of an area to support a selected tourism product 2) the relative value of
tourism, and 3) an overall (combined) tourism capability. The second stage of development in 1994-
2000 was a more in-depth version of the first attempt with the capability of resources to support
selected tourism products and the location of tourism developments being judged. During this second
stage the model incorporated constraints as well as local considerations into the process which helped
move the model forward to the determination of feasibility. Local issues consisted of trying to place a
relative value on the land and focusing on community tourism development such as historic/cultural
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sites. Lastly, tourism modelling in B.C. was centered on suitability mapping of varying scales. In this
process suitability mapping for selected tourism products was merged to help identify areas of interest
for tourists. This model was more thorough and created tourism focus areas at a 1:250,000 scale. The
evolution process for tourism potential modelling is diagramed in the chart below, shown as figure 6.