Tourism Geography
Tourism has been
linked as a vital part of the economic wellbeing for many countries including
that of Australia. Tourism is
effective in bringing money into local economies providing employment,
increased spending, economic diversification, improvements in infrastructure
and transport. As the Tasmania Liberals (2010) clearly state “In Tasmania tourism
is one of the most important industries and is one of the most tourism
intensive states in Australia. Tasmania has a greater share of gross
state product and employment than any other state, it is estimated that annual visitor expenditure generates some $2.3 billion, creates some
2500 businesses and about 25,000 jobs in Tasmania”. This makes tourism one of the most indispensable industries in Tasmania, because of its high value and
economic benefits.
In 2009 the
overall visitor numbers to Tasmania were 907,200 visitors which are arriving by air or sea services
(Tourism Tasmania website, 2009).
Tasmania is best known for its diverse
and spectacular scenery, unspoilt wilderness and heritage with many tourists
travelling to Tasmania for its
popular attractions, adventure activities, outdoor activities, food and wine,
heritage, arts and culture, and wilderness areas. Specific destinations such as
Port Arthur, Freycinet National
Park, and Cradle Mountain are very popular
among travellers. Tourists find Tasmania attractive because it of its accessible size, being low cost for
domestic travellers, as well as it been classed as a safe and stable state of Australia. In the latest data Tourism Tasmania continues to grow in its appeal
as a holiday and leisure destination with holiday visitors accounting for 48%
of all visitors to the state (Tourism Tasmania website, 2009). Domestic and international visitors have increased
in the year ending June 2009 with 775,900 domestic and 149,500 international
visitors to the state (Tourism Tasmania website, 2009). This high amount of domestic visitors to Tasmania is in relation to people wanting
to travel but without the high cost, cheap flights as well as the chance to
travel by boat from the mainland is particularly attractive to the domestic
travellers. The Highest numbers of domestic travellers were from Victoria with 362,100 visitors and New South Wales with 174,100 visitors to
the state (Tourism Tasmania
website, 2009). Although Victoria and New South Wales
make up most of the Domestic travellers to Tasmania there were still an equal amount of visitors from Queensland, South
Australia, Western Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory. International visitors to Tasmania are not as high as that of Domestic visitors, but they still play
an important role in the economic wellbeing of Tasmania. Asia, Europe, North
America and United Kingdom remained Tasmania’s
largest source of international visitors during the year to June 2009 (Tourism Tasmania website, 2009). Tasmania’s highest specific international
visitors come from New Zealand,
Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan.
There are many
reasons why people may travel, according to Tourism Tasmania (2009) the main
purpose for travel to Tasmania in 2009 for Domestic travellers was for a
Holiday (351,000), Visit Friends or Relatives (215,900), Business or Employment
(134,600), Event/ Festival (incl sporting event) (31,300), and Convention/Conference/
Seminar (29,700). For international travellers it was for a Holiday (106,600), Visit Friends or
Relatives (28,000), Business (12,100), Education (7,800), and Employment (3,000)
Figures complied using data from Tourism Tasmania website, 2009). Other reasons for travel that may not be as common
are for health reasons such as surgeries or certain treatment, religion and
pilgrimage, also sport that is held in different places can cause athletes and
there families to travel. Marketing and other influences make travelling to Tasmania become more attractive, the use
of promoting Tasmania as the “Island of Inspiration” incorporating Tasmania’s striking landscape of natural beauty makes it more appealing to
some different types of travellers from back packers, grey nomads, restless
youths, and baby boomers.
In recent years,
the Australian economy has been extremely robust, and the Tasmanian economy has
performed better than the national average (Tasmania website, 2006), with the recent economic recession it was feared
that visitor numbers would decrease and also gross domestic product. The fear
was confirmed when it showed that across Australia there was a decline in
interstate visitors, and also a 0.5% drop in gross domestic product (The
Mercury, 2009). This decrease in tourist numbers however didn’t seem to affect
Tasmania which showed a growth in overall visitor numbers increasing by 7%, and
also showed that Tasmania’s economy grew by 6.5% between December 2007 to
December 2008, (The Mercury, 2009). Not only did Tasmania seem to survive the
economic recession they came out on top of the leader board in retail spending,
economic growth, business investment, construction work done, and housing
finance (The Mercury, 2009). With Tasmania being one of the states in Australia that usually performs worst during bad times this strong front in
the most recent economic recession shows how well Tasmania is performing economically. As Tourism Tasmania (2009) states “These results show a strong performance for Tasmania and the tourism industry, which
continues to show its reliance in a volatile global economy, and its ability to
respond to the demands of a dynamic tourism market”.
As the demand for
tourism in Tasmania grows so
does its future, its economic growth through the economic recession shows how
resilient the industry has become and how Tasmania has become a must see destination. With Tourism supporting more
then 25,000 jobs and 2,500 businesses it is hard to see how the future of
Tourism in Tasmania can be
overlooked. It is important that the Government keeps sustaining the
development of tourism in Tasmania and also promoting it’s uniqueness to domestic and international
travellers, with this it can be said that the Tasmania is strongly supported by its economic wellbeing. Although Tasmania
has come out in front in the recent economic recession other regions have been
heavily affected causing less people to travel instead their having stay
vacations or spending there money on personal needs e.g. paying off credit card
and mortgages, this decrease in people travelling could have a huge affect on
Tasmania with less and less people visiting and spending their money within our
state. Terrorism is also another increasing impact that has had an affect of
tourist travelling because of safety risks, in recent times Indonesia has suffered a decline in
visitor numbers because of the terrorist attacks that have devastated the
Country. The further spread of diseases and infections such as the avian and swine
flu could also have an affect on people travelling because of the high risk of
becoming infected, if these impacts start to become more apparent then tourists
travelling to particular regions will decline. With this decline in tourist
numbers the economy will slow down extremely and in the long run have a
detrimental affect on businesses and employment that are reliant on tourism
alone. The origins of domestic and international travellers to Tasmania hasn’t
change over recent years, New Zealand and Asian countries are still our highest
international visitors with increasing impacts on the global and regional
trends in tourism it may be possible that a change in different types of
nationalities will start to travel to Tasmania and Australia as it is a safe
and secure destination compared to other Countries. This change in
international tourist will help bring in more economic benefits as well as an
increase in overall visitor numbers to Tasmania, changing the whole look of the future of tourism in Tasmania.
In conclusion
tourism is one of Tasmania’s
most vital industries and helps with Tasmania’s economic wellbeing, without tourism the economy of Tasmania would suffer as it brings in
money to build new businesses, infrastructure, and increases employment. Tourism
as a system is linked in with all types of businesses and transport systems,
supporting not only one but many industries within a country. It is essential
to understand the importance of tourism and the many economic benefits it
produces, although like everything else there is a positive and negative side
to tourism but hopefully the positive side of tourism in Tasmania marginally outweighs the
negative. As Tasmania is a
small and isolated state it is central that we keep tourism going and make sure
that its importance is stated clearly.
References
Hall, C.M. 2007. Tourism in Australia: Development,
issues and change (5th Ed), New South Wales: Pearson Education
Australia.
Sofield, T (Professor of Tourism) 2009. Global
and Regional Trends in Tourism Development. March 1.
Tasmanian Liberals website. 2010. Real
change for tourism.
Viewed 31 March 2010
Tourism Queensland website. 2009. How Tourism benefits communities.
/how-tourism-benefits-communities_home.cfm. Viewed 31 March 2010
Tourism Tasmania website. 2009. Home page. About us.
. Viewed 31 March 2010
Tour Tasmania website. 2006. Home page. Tasmania Economy: what is the state of the Tasmania economy?.
Viewed 31 March 2010
Tourism Tasmania website. 2009. Tasmania Tourism Snapshot year ending June 2009.
Viewed 31 March 2010
Steadman, M. 2009. Tassie rides economic
storm. The Mercury, 5 March.
Viewed 1 April 2010
Kempton, H. 2009. Tassie leads economy. The
Mercury, 13 October.
Viewed 1 April 2010
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