The Management
Completion requirements
Unit 5
Passport to Adventure
Great Barrier Reef
"The people are immensely likable -- cheerful, extrovert, quick-witted and unfailingly obliging. Their cities are safe and clean and nearly always built on water. The food is excellent. The sun nearly always shines. There is coffee on every corner. Life doesn't get much better than this." ~ Bill Bryson, author
All tourism operations are closely managed, focussing on the areas of highest use and sensitivity. This includes capping some permit types and defining maximum groups and vessel sizes in individual locations. Site management arrangements and specific policies also apply to tourism operations.
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Finances
Economic Value
Deloitte Access Economics has valued the Great Barrier Reef at $56 billion Australian dollars with an additional economic contribution of $64 billion Australian dollars per year. This estimation is mainly focussed on the tourism dollar value.
The problem with this valuation is the lack of consideration for the environmental value. Is the financial benefit worth the environmental cost of bringing in so many tourists? Considering this, many feel this natural phenomenon is irreplaceable and therefore priceless.
The Multiplier Effect
Direct tourism has benefited financially due to travellers enjoying the natural beauty of the Great Barrier Reef. Obviously, the local booking travel agent, transportation, accommodation staff, and tour operators have received an economic boost. However, these financial benefits have now reached a wider market with financial benefits creating a multiplier effect. This means that the large Reef tourism industry has made it necessary to create outside service and amenities in both Queensland, the state, and Australia, the country. In turn, this leads to even more indirect employment and financial benefits.
As the number of tourists rises, here are a few multiplier effects noted:
- More medical services and insurance are required. Open-ocean sports tourism typically employs certified safety staff on each activity.
- Entertainers are brought into the area, eg., singer Ed Sheeran played a concert in Cairns in early 2018.
- Additional food and beverage need to be imported, eg., Australia has a huge wine industry which resides outside of Queensland. These are transported north to the GBR, thus sharing the wealth inter-state.
- Additional cultural excursions are created for non-water time, eg., The Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Centre just outside of Cairns.
- Obviously, physical and online booking agents and travel promotion throughout both Australia and the world are necessary to bring the tourists to The Reef, eg., in 2016, news.com.au had named the Great Barrier Reef the "best place in the world to visit."
Revenue Leakage
Tourism revenue leakage takes place when financial revenues leave the physical destination and financial benefits ultimately "leak away." This typically happens when the tourism companies are foreign owned or based in another country or when tourism-related goods, services, and labour are imported.
Australia experiences a significant revenue leakage from Japanese and Chinese tourists. Although they spend the most per capita of all tourists to Australia, much of what they spend is through Japanese travel companies, Japanese and Chinese owned hotels, and other foreign-owned business. The result is a significant leakage to Japan's economy.
However, due to Australia's first-world development and their independence within the goods and services industry, a mere 12% of travel and tourism dollars leak out of the economy through imports.
Balance of Payments
Balance of payments is an accounting term that measures the economic and financial situations of a country compared to another country. To achieve a positive effect of tourism on the balance of payments, the amount of foreign tourism currency revenues (income) from a country must exceed the amount of foreign tourism currency expenditures (spending).
According to the 2014-15 Australian Bureau of Statistics report's Official Balance of Payments, tourism exports grew 9.7 percent to $37.7 billion. This statistic means that more foreign tourists are spending money IN Australia vs Australian tourists spending money OUTSIDE Australia.
Marketing
Country Level Marketing
Tourism Australia receives funding from the Federal government although it fluctuates yearly. This is big business. In 2016, the budget was $143 million and in 2017 the tourism budget was $129 million with an extra $410 million in revenue over four years from an increase in visa application charges.
Staffing and Training
GBR Tourism Job Environments
- Mangroves and coastal habitats
- Beaches and islands
- In-shore, mid-shelf, and outer coral reef
- 85% of tourism jobs are focussed around Cairns and Whitsunday Islands
