Event tourism and the product life cycle: The Brimfield, Massachusetts Antiques and Collectibles Show

Because every region, destination, site, of event is unique, it has been difficult to apply any one specific rule or model to enhance tourism planning. In manufacturing, and other economic areas, the product life cycle concept has been a proven method used in tracing the evolution of a product of industry through its various stages of life. In the past, most tourism models were used specifically to measure economic development, employment, foreign exchange, and tax revenues, but not the life cycle of the destination or site itself In recent years however, a form of the product life cycle model has been found increasingly useful in tracing the stages of the tourism product and its components. The tourism life cycle model provides the opportunity to study the history of a destination, site, or event by identifying the causes that influence its transition through each of its stages. The purpose of this paper is to trace the evolution of a major U.S. antiquing event by using the product, of more precisely, the tourism life cycle model. It will examine the different stages which the event had traversed, and will attempt to show that the time may be at hand for promoters and other vested participants to engage in strategic planning in order to rejuvenate the event.