A Special Interest Tourism Whitsunday and Beach tourism - Samples

Question: Discuss about the Special Interest Tourism Whitsunday and Beach tourism. Answer: Introduction Seaside tourism is one of the nature-based tourism that has been gaining popularity, more people are attracted towards viewing the natural view of beaches. In Australia, coastal tourism is very popular. In Queensland, people are attracted towards the coral beaches; the beauty of the corals across the Great Barrier Reef provides an excellent spot for the tourists who love beaches and admiring the beauty of marine life. Whitsunday is an archipelago of seventy four tropical islands it lies just near the Queensland coast, which is close to the Great barrier reef. People from all around the world visit the destination to see the white sands of the white heaven beach. Many hotels cater the needs of the travelers who visit Whitsunday. It is a nature based tourism because it is not at all like the traditional tourist destination, because corals are not available and Great barrier reef is one of the natural wonders of the world. Only those tourists visit this place who are attracted towards t he marine life. Statement of Argument: You need to analyze various strategies for themanagement of positive and negative impacts of nature based tourismand achieving the goals of sustainability. Discussion: Implications for economic sustainability Tourism is the main reason behind the boost in the economy in the region. In order to achieve the goal for the year 2020 there are certain implications. Economic strategies aim at maximizing the profit of Whitsundays. Self regulating strategies are to be taken from the end of government to provide jobs and living standards of the local people. Accommodation The occupancy rate forecasted for the year 2020 is 55 percent. As per the potential of the industry the estimation is 70 percent occupancy rate. There is need for more accommodation facilities for fulfilling the demand of the visitors. The local leaders are required to provide full service brand named hotels at the islands of Whitsundays (Authority, 2016). They will be delivering 4.5 and 5 star plus accommodation so that they can attract the MICE tourists. For sustainability it is very important that the destination has enough facilities for the tourists so that the visitors have a wonderful experience. Access- The connectivity to the destination is good still the high air fares makes it difficult for the tourists to visit the place. So a collaborative role of the Airlines is required to provide a reasonable fare for the travelers. The local tour operators with partnership with the various airlines can offer attractive packages for the tourists so that they can plan their vacation to Whitsunday and boost the economy of the place. Making the place accessible to the tourists will improve the tourist experience and the tourist flow in that destination will automatically increase. During the annual wet season the place becomes flooded and the road connectivity is totally disrupted in such case the local and the Government authorities are required to work more actively during these period so that the tourists are not discouraged to travel during this time of the year. The road link to Prospine to Airlie is completely disrupted (Mason, 2015). For increasing the economic sustainability, it is very important that the allied services are improved, the living standard of the place is raised, which can be done by increasing the number of job opportunities. Promotional strategies If the marketing is properly done by the tourism board and the local service providers then the can expect a financial sustainability. Apart from promotion of the destination, the tourism boards can also focus on creating awareness about the environmental issues in that region so that the environmental challenge can also be met. Development of infrastructure is very important for improvement of service quality, when the service quality is good then it would be easier to achieve the goals of economic sustainability because the destination will become a source of revenue generation. Engaging the local people in construction of bridges, roads will help the local authorities in infrastructure development in a very less cost, hiring employees from outside might cost a huge amount for the Government and local authorities. Strategy for increasing positive impacts of tourism Employment Tourism in any particular destination creates employment for the local people, it is one of the positive impact of tourism that positively affects the lives of the local people. Providing required skills and knowledge to the local people will help the community gain maximum advantage of this opportunity. This will help both the tourists and the local people. Educating the local people about tourism and its related services, like tour guiding and escort services would provide employment opportunities for the local people. The local government of the area has decided to provide full employment within the region. They are planning to provide surplus local jobs; they will be promoting migration and settlement within the community. They will be providing an array of skilled jobs to the people. Implications for cultural sustainability Collaborative strategy will be taken for cultural sustainability. Every place has a history and culture of its people. It is very important that the tourists understand the relevance of culture of the place and the people. This can only be done if the tourists are well aware of the relevance of the place to the tourists. Often when tourists do not have the understanding of the culture of the culture of any particular place, they end up hurting the sentiments. The local population of Whitsunday as estimated by the Regional Council is 33,324. The local people are very supportive to the tourism industry and tourism development. They appreciate the fact that it supports the local economy and generates employment; it also improves the living standard of the local people. The community involvement with tourist would make sure that the place would make the tourists more eager to know the culture of the place. The local tour operators would provide offers during festivals so that tourists th e destination can also be represented as a cultural tourism destination because too much use of the destination as seaside or beach tourism might destroy the ecological balance of the place. For encouraging the cultural sustainability, the government is planning activities that seek full community involvement, like cleaning tourist spots, planting trees, waste management. Apart from this cultural festivals and celebrations are promoted especially festivals of aborigines living in that region so that their culture is known to outside world and sustainability is maintained (Haward et al., 2013). The strategy is to take advantage of the population growth in the region and the other surrounding regions like Galilee and Bowen basins so that it increases the scope for day-trips and short break and the VFR tourism is also increased. As per the date of Queensland Trade and Treasury office of Economic and statistical Research, it has been estimated that the population of the region is going to increase by 20 percent, approximately 100,000 by 2020. So, if the local service providers take advantage of this fact then they would receive a good revenue from the domestic tourism (Benur Bramwell, 2015). Increasing consumer recognition that Whitsundays is the heart of Great barrier reef one can access the Great barrier reef from Whitsundays. Supporting the development of projects that are appealing to the customers and enhances their experiences (Lundberg, Fredman Wall-Reinius, 2014) A community, entertainment and events centre so that the place becomes more appealing to the tourists. One such project is Wave pool. An investor is willing to establish a flow house in the region. The venue will have flow-boarding, food, beverages, retail and events. Such interesting and new ventures are needed to be promoted by the local government so that the place can be represented as one of the best tourism destinations. Community capacity building is very important for strengthening the culture of the local communities, engaging in community services would help the local people realize the importance of community capacity building and how it can be used in development of the destination with help of collaborative approach.(Goldberg et al., 2017). Strategies for social sustainability The Government of Queensland has identified the destination as one of the sources that generate income and boosts the economy of the area. With the help of the state Governments destination Q blueprint 2012-2015 the industry led by the regional tourism organization aims at increasing the visitor expenditure across Queensland from dollar 21.5 billion in 2012 to dollar 30 billion by 2020 (Bramwell, 2015). A considerable growth in expected in the VFR market. Increase in the disposable income of people in the local region will increase the number of short trips of the local people who would travel to visit their friends, families and relatives. If the wages of the local residents are increased then there would be rise in the number of hotel bookings for events like marriages, social gatherings, parties and other festivals Partnership- The local authorities, national authorities, non-governmental organizations, volunteers, local people and customers all need to work together to achieve the sustainability goals. The local authorities need to take charge and create awareness among the people about the benefits of tourism so that the local people are not reluctant to tourism. They should involve the local people into service providing activities because they are the ones who know the place and hence would be able to provide services like sightseeing. The local people can also engage in providing facilities like accommodation, like in rural tourism local people offering their places to the tourists and catering their needs. This will help the tourists to understand the culture of that place by mixing with the people, no extra expenditure would be required for accommodation services. National bodies should create awareness amongst the tourists about the significance of any particular place. It is very impor tant to make the tourists aware about the significance of the place and the environment. This can be done by using advertising techniques using, electronic and print media. Public events can also be done to create awareness among the tourists, appealing them to act responsibly, for achieving the sustainable goals. Volunteers would look, monitor the tourist activities, and guide them wherever required (Dwyer, ?orak Tomljenovi?, 2017). To understand the impact of tourism it is very important that one understands how the lives of people are affected by tourism. Positive impacts of tourism include, development of the place, which includes infrastructure development, employment generation of the local people. Boost in the economy of the place. All this impacts are positive but not for long duration, it completely depends on the tourist flows in that place. If the tourists visit the place, then only employment will be generated, once the place reaches its saturation stage, the growth becomes stagnant, the place is no longer able to generate revenue and employment to the people. On the contrary looking at the negative impacts if a place is overused and polluted then the local authorities will have to spend a lot of money for its recovery and in the meanwhile, the lives of the local people are affected (Dwyer, ?orak Tomljenovi?, 2017). It might also happen that the attitude of the local people might change toward the to urists and they prefer that the tourists and they might become hostile to the tourists. In such scenario that place no longer would serve as a tourist destination. Therefore, it is very important that the tourists act responsibly. Implications for environmental sustainability Monitoring strategy would be used for encouraging environmental sustainability. One of the major impacts of tourism that is significantly affecting the place is that the tourist activities are continuously affecting the environmental harmony of the place. The marine life is in danger and the coral reefs are deteriorating. Coral reefs are one of the most important natural products that successfully attracts the tourists to this particular destination. If the coral reefs would be destroyed then the place might lose its significance in terms of an ideal beach destination for the tourists. This particular issue needs the intervention of the government authorities so that relevant steps are taken for the improvement of the condition of the coral lives (Mason, 2015). Another major issue is overusing of any particular destination causes unsatisfactory delivery of services. With the number of tourists, increasing in this particular area beyond the carrying capacity of the place it becomes very difficult to provide quality services. Even the scenic beauty and the value of the destination lessens with time. Activities like littering in the beaches also cause massive pollution in the region. Water pollution not only harms the coral reefs but also other aquatic animals. So tourists also needs to act responsibly and try not litter or pollute the environment. They might just be visiting the place for a day or two but there are people who live in that place so for their sake and for the sake of the future generations sustainability is very important (Bec et al., 2017). This strategy would aim at monitoring the activities of the tourists for these volunteers are required to guide the tourists and restrict them from actions like writing on the walls of historical monuments, littering, polluting and creating noise in tourist places. This activity disrupts the harmony of the place. The volunteers should educate the tourists and tell them about the people their culture and the heritage of the place. Their actions should not hurt the sentiments of the local people. If they are guided properly then such situations would not arise (Authority, 2016). Management of coral reefs Controlling the outbreak of crown of thorns starfish- The outbreak of crown of thorns causes decay of coral reefs. Stopping the crown of thorns would stop the decay of coral reef. The natural beauty of the place is completely destroyed, so if the local authorities takes initiative in this regard then such issues can be reduced so that Whitsundays can be represented as an ideal destination for the tourists and the sustainability concept of tourism can be maintained for a longer time. Engagement of the local people inmanagement of environment would help in a great deal, if the local people and the authorities work together then the goal of achieving sustainability can be achieved (Bec et al., 2017). Self-regulation Self-regulations strategies are about people taking responsible roles for sustainable tourism. This strategy would be the most effective strategy if done properly. People will have to act wisely by not polluting the places they visit. Activities like littering and noise pollution should be strictly affected because it disrupts the harmony of the place. Environment needs to be taken care, flora and fauna of any place should not be destroyed. Ecological harmony needs to be maintained by taking care of the place, people and environment (Bramwell Lane, 2015). Conclusion Nature based tourism is based on the special interests of the tourists. Recently, there is an increase in nature based tourism segment. the demand has been increasing. Whitsunday an archipelago near Great barrier reef, people who like to see the beauty of coral reef and enjoy seeing the marine life visit this place. This place is also excellent for enjoying beach tourism as there are many resorts that offer travelers a quality stay. Development of infrastructure can involvement of the local people with local authorities will help in gaining sustainable tourism. 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