Australia
Tourism Development in Australia
Introduction
The tourism industry is exceptionally complex and is constantly growing in size and competitiveness. Tourism plays a key role in our export industry accounting for 10% of the total export earnings, making it Australia’s largest service export industry. These contributions to Australia’s Gross Domestic Profit (GDP) have grown significantly from $25.2 billion in 2002 to $34 billion in 2011 (Kumar Narayan, 2006; Department of Resources Energy and Tourism, 2011). The emergence of this rapidly growing industry has the ability to impact economic, social and environmental aspects of a destination significantly, making the tourism sector a vital industry for not only the Australian economy but for all future development of Australia.
The National Tourism Organisation (NTO) that represents Australia is Tourism Australia. This is a government agency that is responsible for increasing the amount of international visitors to Australia as well as encouraging Australians to take part in domestic travel. Its mission is “…to increase the economic benefits to Australia of tourism” (Tourism Australia, 2012). To do so, Tourism Australia has implemented a range of strategies, the most recent being Tourism 2020 which aims to achieve growth in the expenditure that overnight tourism brings to the destination (Tourism Australia, 2012). Through the marketing efforts of Tourism Australia along with the Australian Tourism Commission since 1967, Australia has been established as a tourist destination and its brand is now a successful and enviable destination brand.
Australia’s Competitiveness
The tourism industry is an extremely competitive one as the environment is constantly developing. There are five main areas that can facilitate a destination to achieve a competitive advantage (Wang, 2012). The true ability of a tourist destination to compete comes from the possession of certain political, economic, socio-cultural, technological and
Introduction
The tourism industry is exceptionally complex and is constantly growing in size and competitiveness. Tourism plays a key role in our export industry accounting for 10% of the total export earnings, making it Australia’s largest service export industry. These contributions to Australia’s Gross Domestic Profit (GDP) have grown significantly from $25.2 billion in 2002 to $34 billion in 2011 (Kumar Narayan, 2006; Department of Resources Energy and Tourism, 2011). The emergence of this rapidly growing industry has the ability to impact economic, social and environmental aspects of a destination significantly, making the tourism sector a vital industry for not only the Australian economy but for all future development of Australia.
The National Tourism Organisation (NTO) that represents Australia is Tourism Australia. This is a government agency that is responsible for increasing the amount of international visitors to Australia as well as encouraging Australians to take part in domestic travel. Its mission is “…to increase the economic benefits to Australia of tourism” (Tourism Australia, 2012). To do so, Tourism Australia has implemented a range of strategies, the most recent being Tourism 2020 which aims to achieve growth in the expenditure that overnight tourism brings to the destination (Tourism Australia, 2012). Through the marketing efforts of Tourism Australia along with the Australian Tourism Commission since 1967, Australia has been established as a tourist destination and its brand is now a successful and enviable destination brand.
Australia’s Competitiveness
The tourism industry is an extremely competitive one as the environment is constantly developing. There are five main areas that can facilitate a destination to achieve a competitive advantage (Wang, 2012). The true ability of a tourist destination to compete comes from the possession of certain political, economic, socio-cultural, technological and
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