Sustainable Tourism Assignment: Rationale for Australian Tourism Industry

Question

Task: This sustainable tourism assignment will discuss three main parts. The first part will deal with what are the main drivers and challenges of Australia’s tourism industry. The second part will look at the disadvantages and advantages of the tourism industry in Australia. For the third part, you will explore and provide critical analysis of the 3 Pillars of Sustainable Tourism: socio-cultural, economic and environment.

For the third part of the assessment task, you will select a business establishment within any of the five different sectors namely accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, transportation and travel services to provide scholarly perspective of your understanding of the social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts of the host community and its stakeholders.

Answer

Introduction
As per the opinion of Huveneers et al.,(2017), the tourism industry is one of the fastest and largest growing sectors globally. It brings new and immense opportunity for many cities, regions as well as the country. The tourism sector helps in boosting the economy of the country. However, this sector is facing challenges due to the impact of Covid-19 and its sustainability becomes vulnerable. The impact of this pandemic is so huge that it had led to the restriction of travelers. As per the view of Divisekera and Nguyen (2018), this sector is massively impacted by the spread of this virus. As per the estimate of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the rate of tourist arrival has been reduced leading to the loss of huge capital. Therefore, it is the reason for the huge loss in the economy of the country. The measures need to be taken immediately to overcome this loss. This report would focus on the reason for the vulnerability to sustainable issues of the tourism sector in Australia.

Discussion
Research the barriers and drivers of the tourism industry in Australia
Drivers of the tourism industry in Australia
As per the view of Fatima and Elbanna (2020), the tourism sector has been experiencing growth steadily in Australia. Due to globalization, the growth of the tourism industry is benefitted in Australia. The technological advancement is leading the cheap airfares and making people book their tour in the world. The tourism industry is the major growth of the economy of Australia. The international visitor has been the propeller of this sector in Australia. As per the view of Gu and Huang (2019), the domestic spending in 2018-2019 in Australia exceeded by $100 billion due to the traveling of the people within the country. The International traveler visits Australia is approximately 1.4 billion and they spend around US$1.5 trillion every year. The key drivers of the tourism sector are mentioned below,

• Increased workforce
  As opined by Prideaux, Carmody&Pabel (2017), the tourism industry is a major economic driver in Australia. The employment rate is 666,000 people and contributes $60.8 billion GDP to Australia. However, retaining and securing the workforce is a big challenge faced by the tourism sectors of Australia. Tourism employs 5 percent of the population who is working, among them most of the workers consider it just a job, not a career.
• Collaborating for growth
  According to the view of Qian, Shen& Law (2018), the tourism sector of Australia collaborates with industries that can enhance their growth. The partnership between the two industries provides the sharing of resources and the market opportunity can develop. The tourism industry of Australia had built a strong connection with the service industry for many years. This is responsible for the growth of this industry. As stated by Moyle et al., (2018), the food & wine industry is a key driver for the high-yield of this sector. As per the estimate around the international visitor contributes to the winery is 1 million, 2.2 million contributes to the food market and the number of visitors travels to the farm gate is 375,000. It is also being researched that approximately 586,000 visitors across the globecame to this country for their education purpose in 2018-2019. As per the thesis of Voyer, Barclay, McIlgorm& Mazur (2017), the impact of education visitors is huge on the economy of the country. The stay of this visitor is longer in the economy of the country and thus they contribute lots for their stay in comparison to the holiday visitors.

Barriers of the tourism industry in Australia
The barrier of the tourism industry in this current scenario is due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fear of the spread of the disease had opposed people from traveling. The other reason that has been found is that the hospitality industry is not focused on maintaining cleanliness and sanitization, which is discouraging tourists from visiting the destinations. Apart from the identified barriers, few other barriers like the increasing strength of the Australian currency are hampering the tourism activities, owing to the increasing costs of the services therein. Security issues, as imminent therein within the Australian tourism sector, also acts as a barrier for the tourism industry. As per the view of Wilson and Verlis, (2017), Australia should consider protecting its natural resources so as to become eco-friendly. Indeed, they need to focus on preserving and protecting the natural attractions. It attracts many people across the globe to refresh their minds and release their stress. The natural assets in certain areas of Australia are predisposed by natural disasters like floods, bushfires and cyclones. However, they should have to plan properly to reserve the same so as to protect the tourism industry.

The impacts of natural and man-made disasters from the sustainability viewpoint and global challenge perspective
The man-made and natural disaster impacts the challenging situation in Australia. As per the view of Nesshöver et al., (2017), the country was hit by a flood in 2015, leading to the loss of natural resources and other natural assets. The loss due to this damage is huge and the tourists still concerned about visiting Australia as they are much more cautious. Indeed, the drainage system of Australia is not up to the mark and thus the water does not disperse completely. Due to the flood, many people lost their lives, property and the destruction of crops, which led to a shortage of availability of food to feed the population in addition to the tourists, which led to unprecedented price rise and resultant negative image among the tourists.The damage was so massive that tourists were discouraged from undertaking tours to such destination, which reduced the revenue generated from the tourism industry. The impact of bushfire on Australia’s tourism sector was huge and created an impactful loss. This is because the country accounts for a $405 billion loss as the travelers from Brits, Chinese, Americans and people across the globe had canceled their ticket. Therefore, it is the reason for which the tourism industry is greatly impacted. The tourism industry was closed for a few months so as to recover from its current state. The bushfire also led to the loss of a large number of flora and fauna, which damaged the aesthetic beauty of the destinations and tarnished the image of the destinations further. Flora and fauna forms one of the largest appealing factors for most of the destinations within Australia and thus, destruction of the same inadvertently led to the decline in the number of tourists visiting the destinations in the following years, thus, resulting in a loss of the hospitality organizations. The decline of tourists in Australia had posed an enormous challenge to the country.

Discuss the disadvantages and advantages of the tourism industry in Australia
As per the view of Michael, James & Michael (2018), the tourism industry is responsible to uplift the economy of the country and enhances job opportunities in the country. It is the source of boosting the place and make people aware of the specialty of certain places. However, the tourism industry poses many challenges and disadvantages. Therefore, the advantage and disadvantage of this sector is mentioned below,

The advantages of the tourism sector
Wealth generation: The tourism sector contributes and brings more money to the country. It brings wealth in massive amounts and it is responsible for the growth of the country. The income which is being generated is the main source of income and it boosts the country’s economy.

Development of country: The tourism sector contributes to the development of infrastructure, highways, roads, hospitals and schools. Thus, Australia is developed mostly due to the increased rate of tourism. As per the view of Frawley, Goh& Law (2019), tourism is also responsible for the lucrative and enhances the attraction of the place. Therefore, tourism is greatly impacting the growth of the country.

Job creation: It has beenanalyzed above that tourism is responsible for the creation of jobs in Australia. It influences the economy of the countrypositively. Tourism could lead to an increased number of businesses that would hire local people. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of tourism jobs in Australia by the end of June 2020 is 611,700. Encourage unity: This industry boosts the unity among people from different traditions, colors and backgrounds. The historical background of Australia is so huge that it encourages people to explore the history of the country.

The disadvantages of the tourism sector
Impact on the environment: It is being analyzed that tourism is responsible for the environmental damage of Australia. The risks can be pollution, forest fires, natural habits losses of their life and erosion. Tourism may behave in a responsible manner but still, it can lead to the destruction of the environment. It is also being analyzed that the monuments, temples and ancient buildings of Australia cope with the increased number of tourists. This often leads to suffering from wear and tear. It is being researched that natural attraction of tourist and Reefs suffer permanent damage. Seasonal fluctuations: As the job is based on the season thus the job is not secured. Therefore, employees get not such essential benefits such as healthcare, pension and sick leave. Thus, the employees have of such type unable to enjoy the benefits.

Pollution: As the number of international visitors visits Australia means transportation increases leading to environmental pollution. The pollution is not only impacting the local but also the entire globe as the visitors travel using the airline.

Explore the impacts of tourism on the economy & workforce
As per the view of Mooney and Barum (2019), the tourism sector impacts the workforce and the entire economy of the country. The tourism sector positively boosts the economy of Australia and is accounts for the increased workforce. The direct impact on the economy of the country due to tourism enhances the GDP of the country. The indirect economic impact due to tourism is capital investment, the support from the government to develop the tourism sector and other forms of induced income. On the other hand, employment opportunities due to tourism increase on regular basis. The vacancy due to the tourism sector is tour operators, cook and hotel staff. Therefore, the government focus to develop or spend on this sector for boosting the economy through increased job creation. The job creation is high so that the economy of the country would boost to some extent. It is also responsible for developing the infrastructure of the country. This means more and more businesses would invest in the tourist areas and thus the tourism industry can boost.

The different points of view regarding the socio-cultural, economic and environmental impacts on host communities and destinations.

Socio-cultural impact of tourism on host communities and destination
According to the view of Cheng, Houge Mackenzie &Degarege (2020), the Socio-cultural impact of tourism on host communities and destinations in various ways. It results in the change of patterns of lifestyles and behaviors of the people. Therefore, it boosts the entire community and the standard of living of local people. Tourism has a great impact on businesses positively and negatively. Tourism can affect the inhabitants and the entire community significantly. Tourism can increases businesses, amenities, infrastructure development, facilities, population growth, improved facilities and the life of the people in the community.

The economic impact of tourism on host communities and destination
The economic impact of tourism on host communities and destinations is positively affected by tourism. It can lead to the improvement of tax revenue, quality living standards of the community, increased rate of employment, and personal income. It boosts the lifestyle of the local community members in a better way. The better is the infrastructure means the more business ventures would invest in opening the store. The shopping of the goods by the tourist can help in developing the economy of the country. However, the locals sometimes face the increased cost of products in the tourist zone. Indeed, they have to pay more for availing the goods and services to the areas of tourist attraction.

Environmental influences host communities and destinations
It is natural the entry of tourists can lead to having an environmental impact. The increased number of tourists means the increased use of transportation. Thus, it can increase the pollution level in the host community. Therefore, tourists can impact the environment negatively. The increasing footfall of the tourists in the destinations leads to sustainability issues and the destinations are losing their aesthetic values as well, which is hampering their appeal adversely. The changes in the environment like an increase in the temperature are having a negative impact on the host communities and they are having to bear the brunt of the human activities and resultant destructions of the environment.

Argue a detailed and critical analysis of the 3 Pillars of Sustainable Tourism: socio-cultural, economic and environment.
It is being analyzed that the country focuses on improving the entire local areas so that to increase the flow of international tourists. Therefore, the development of the tourist zone brings more traveler to the place. Tourism can promote the local cultures greatly and is also responsible for the growth of the economy of the country. As per the view of Sharma, Chaurasia&Balakrishnan (2019), tourism is the economic booster of the country. In opposition to their view, Mathew and Sreejesh (2017), stated that tourism can impact the environment of the country in a big way. It is the fact that an increased number of people means increased use of transportation facility. Thus, it impacts the country massively and enhances the flow of cash due to the tourist’s arrival. The tourism activities results in shifting the host communities in some cases, from the niche environment, in an effort to maintain the popularity of the destinations, which is considered as an adverse socio-cultural impact on the host communities.

The social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts on the host community
The company named Park Hyatt, operating in the accommodation sector, has been chosen to analyze the impact of tourism in this industry. This industry is focusing on implementing sustainable practices. Indeed, they are focusing to reduce their impact on the environment. Indeed, they are focusing to reduce waste such as water, electricity and implementation of cost-effective services. The CSR initiatives adopted by the organization, complying to legislations and company policies of contributing a part of the profit to the development and conservation of the environment, results in conservation of the environment, through the donations given. Furthermore, the organization also abides by the policies of lowering the carbon footprint, for which strategies have been implemented like paperless proceedings, cashless transactions, recycling wastes and similar others, which is playing a role in balancing the resources and conserving the environment. The organization considers hiring people without affecting the environment like printing of forms. The aim of the organization is to provide benefits to the people and their community. The benefits are given by creating jobs for the locals and promoting corporate social responsibility. It tackles environmental challenges effectively. Moreover, in order to make the site appealing for the tourists, the hotel pays attention towards reconstruction of the surrounding infrastructure like roads, which benefits the local host communities as well.

Evaluate the performance to identify its impact activities and opportunities
The government is focused on improving the infrastructure of the country so that the number of tourists would increase to enjoy the facilities of the country. Indeed, they look for innovative things and better infrastructure of the place. Therefore, the local businesses can earn increased profit as the tourist would buy things from them. Therefore, the entire community can improve as a whole. The investment of people enhances the business to produce and enlarge their services. Therefore, the job opportunity is the first benefit for the people of the country. The infrastructure of the community can be improved. It can also lead to improved transportation facilities. The more is an improvement, the better would be the standard of living. Therefore, the increased number of tourists would like to visit the place.

Conclusion
As concluded from the above analysis, the coronavirus pandemic had affected the growth of this sector immensely all over the world. Owing to the spread of the disease people across the globe had stopped planning a tour. However, Australia’s tourism sectors were affected mostly due to the bushfire and flood. Therefore, it had impacted the economic loss majorly. It is being analysed that the tourism sector can be boosted if the proper strategies can be considered.

References
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