Abstract: With the seasonal adjustment of Tramo/Seats and multi-peak fitting methods, this paper analyses the evolutionary stages and fluctuant characteristics of Wuxi Lingshan Scenic Area from 1998 to 2008. Some conclusions can be drawn as follows. 1) In terms of the tourist evolutionary stages of Lingshan, it has entered the mature stage after the preliminary and upgrading evolutionary stages. 2) The stage evolution has always been a key component of a thematic cultural tourist area in its life cycle, which displays the tendency phase division in the long term and the fluctuant variations in the short term. 3) The key dynamic factors that affect the evolutionary stages of thematic cultural tourist areas may include cultural resources, market demand, tourist investment, product improvement, etc. Furthermore, based on the theory of the tourist destination life cycle, we establish a theoretic model of the development and evolution of thematic cultural tourist areas. Therefore, the life cycle of a thematic cultural tourist area can be divided into five stages, i.e., the exploration and starting stage, the substantial development stage, the fast development stage, the balanced development stage and the follow-up (declining or recessing) development stage. Influenced by more factors than one, the evolution of a thematic cultural tourist area is jointly motivated under the interactions and phase transformations of various dynamic factors, and also led to its stage evolution and fluctuant growth. Finally, a thematic cultural tourist area can maintain sustained development by enhancing its cultural characteristic, strengthening the cultural driving force, cultivating the overall development power and shaping its multi-dynamic growth mechanism.

Key words: thematic cultural tourist area, evolutionary stage, multi-peak fitting, dynamic mechanism, Wuxi Lingshan Scenic Area