Research Topic: The Impacts of Mining on the Tourism Industry in Australia: Analysis of the Major Tourist Destinations since 1970
Literature Review
Background Information
Australia boasts of some of the world’s leading tourist sites. These include the Sydney Opera House, the famous Great Barrier Reef, Ulutu-Kata Tjuta National Park, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Blue Mountains National Park, the attractions in Melbourne such as the Royal Botanic Gardens and the National Gallery of Victoria, Bondi Beach, Daintree National Park, Fraser Island, Kadaku National Park, Great Ocean Road, and Broome and the Kimberly region. Listing these sites on the Planet Ware travel site, Hastings (2016) notes that any mention of Australia impresses upon the vast attractions for tourism incentives in the island. It is this reputation that earns the country its position among global tourist destinations. Inevitably, it has taken years for Australia’s tourism industry to rise to what is seen today. Any drawbacks could therefore be obliterating the gains accrued across several generations. To regain such status will definitely require many years of continuous input and drain of resources, which will have a negative impact on the economy (mainly in the short run). This argument takes a particularly interesting turn considering that what needs to be done to restore the present state of the geography of the place can be countered by conserving the sites.
As noted above, tourism is a very important pillar of development. As such, it is paramount that the Australian government treats it with utmost care lest the enormous benefits it brings are eroded. The Australian government has demonstrated great willingness to support tourism; mainly based on the sizeable allocations the industry receives within the annual financial budgets. Tourism is mostly supported by the government and tourism in Australia has been considered to be an important aspect in the Australian economy. In the year ending 2015, tourism contributed 3% towards the national economy. It contributed GDP amounting to $47.5 billion to the national economy of the country. Tourism does not only contribute to the economy of the country in terms of generating GDP but it also provides employment for many. This sector is considered to have employed more than 580,800 individuals in the year 2014-2015 and this is considered to be 5% of the total workforce in Australia. Some of the most popular tourism destinations in Australia include the coastal cities of Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, Great Barrier Reef, among others. Tourism has been considered to be a form of business and as such, it faces the normal challenges that other businesses undergo. Australia has been in the fore front of advertising its tourism sector so as to increase the revenue that it gets from the sector. There have been several marketing strategies that have been put forward in order to ensure that tourism in the country is profitable. In the 1980s, there was a campaign that was launched by the Australia international tourism campaign which aimed at advertising the countries natural attractions and the tourism sector in general. In March 2009, a campaign was launched by federal minister of tourism, the Hon Martin Ferguson named “No Leave No Life”. The campaign aimed at reminding the employees of the professional as well as personal benefits that they would accrue if they took annual leave, and taking that leave in Australia. Even though such campaigns aim at improving tourism in the country, there are other factors that pose as threats or challenges towards the growth of the sector. The following paper will look at the challenges that the sector faces and look into detail the current situation faced by the sector.
Over the past few years, the tourism sector in Australia has been seen to have exhibited strong revenue growth despite the lingering effects of the global financial crisis (Kofler 2010). One of the factors that has been considered to be a major contributor towards this growth is the rise in international visitors with the number of visitors surging as the Australian dollar depreciates. The resultant depreciation of the dollar has made it relatively cheaper for visitors from abroad. Additionally, there have been efforts that have been implemented that are in relations to transport (Foo, 1998). This includes the expansion of low cost airlines as well as raising incomes in developing of international visitors. Tourism in Australia has grown but domestic tourism has grown at a slower rate as compared to international tourism (Metusela and Waitt, 2001). Research done by different scholars has attributed the slow growth of domestic tourism to the Australian dollar. When the dollar was strong as compared to the currency of other countries, domestic tourists preferred to go abroad for their holidays. This trend has been reversed by the weakening of the dollar where many are now of the preference that they should tour locally due to the fact that touring abroad would be far much expensive.
Western Australia and Queensland remain the two largest mining states, each contributing 55% and 20% respectively (Pham, Bailey and Marshall, 2013). Coal and iron ore are the leading mineral extracts. The so-called ‘mining boom’ has seen rapid expansion of the Australian economy. However, mining presents a major challenge to the growth of the tourism industry, and the two can be referred to as being almost ‘mutually exclusive’ in terms of existence. This is largely because mining leads to land degradation and steals the natural beauty of a place (Bertram, 2010). Additionally, mining leads to invasion of territories that were previously occupied by attractive fauna and flora, and may lead to their replacement, removal, or more commonly partial extinction from certain parts of the land (Bertram, 2010; Brueckner, Durey, Mayes and Pforr, 2013). However, it is not only the tourism industry that is harmed by the rapid growth of mining in the country. Pham et al. (2013) notes that massive exports resulting from the mining boom led to consequential strengthening of the Australian dollar, thereby making local exports uncompetitive in international markets. This, by extension, led to a decline in the prices of the same minerals whose export had created the positive economic effect, creating a negative spiral effect on the entire economy. The tourism industry is one of the sectors that have the potential to revert the economy back to the initially stable state it was in. However, for this to be achieved, much of the land and features whose attractions are fading away with the advent of expansive mining activities needs to be conserved and not destroyed as is happening presently.
Research Questions