Current Sustainability Issues Facing the Tourism Industry Assignment Sample

• Subject Name : Management

Domestic Demand for Indigenous Tourism in Australia

Executive Summary of Current Sustainability Issues Facing the Tourism Industry

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation estimated that worldwide international visitor arrivals would decline by 20-30 percent in 2020, leading to a probable thrashing of US$ 30-50 billion. In many of the world's cities, planned traffic has decreased by 80-90 percent. This study is primarily created to provide adequate details on the shortcomings of the tourism industry in Victoria, a popular tourist location. From this report, current situation for business of this industry as well as future development perspectives are also projected to ensure sustainability at any condition. Moreover, it is a transparent view to forecast importance of sustainable tourism and its effect on Australian tourism industry.

Table of Contents

Introduction.

Tourism at Victoria, Australia.

Enablers and barriers for the tourism industry.

Direct and indirect impact of the multiplier effect

Dependency of workforce in Australian tourism industry.

Relationship between natural disaster and tourism..

Relationship between man-made disaster and tourism..

Recovery and reconstruction of tourist spot

Concept of sustainable tourism..

Advantages of sustainable tourism..

Conclusion.

References.

Introduction to Current Sustainability Issues Facing the Tourism Industry

Tourism can be defined as an activity, an industry, and a growth driver of a country’s economy. The tourism industry plays a vital position in the expansion of the financial system of mainly developing countries. It influences various industries altogether, increases employment as well as generates foreign exchange earnings of a country. Tourism in Australia has been one of the largest industries serving both domestic and international visitors. The industry has been estimated to employ approximately 924,000 Australians in different job roles, contributing about $55.3 billion. However, the bush-fire along with the corona virus outbreak disturbed the whole economy much harder than the SARS outbreak. Until June 2020, a loss of 1.8 M visitors was estimated with a 15%-20% staff reduction. Thus, regaining its old economy back is a wait until normality.

Tourism at Victoria, Australia

The state of Victoria is located in the southeast part of Australia. It is one of the main tourist spots of the country with mountains, national parks with unique wildlife, heritage sites, state-of-the-art-museums, and fascinating examples of gold rush architecture. Melbourne- the state capital that has been ranked the world city with the best coffee beating Rome and Vienna. Every year an estimated 2 million international tourists visit the state. Thus, one can conclude the rise in the economy caused by this tourist spot. Unfortunately, natural disasters like the bush fire and health issues as if the corona virus- 2019 pandemic has created a massacre (Abascal, Fluker & Jiang, 2016).

Disasters like a bushfire; earthquake not only takes away life but also destroys business, most importantly tourism. Australia’s tourism comprises 90% small and micro business is harshly affected, the time taken to recover can be up to two years or longer (Huveneers et al. 2017). Outcomes of severe drought record-breaking temperatures have led to the breakdown of massive bushfire. More than 11 million hectares of bush, forest, and parks have been reported of destruction, worst affected being New South Wales and Victoria (Balli&Tsui, 2016). Weather conditions of Australia have been reported as a change with the rise in temperature conditions in 60 years. Meteorologists reported a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) that is higher-than-average rainfall in eastern Africa whereas drought in southeast Asia and Australia which raged bushfire (Van De Vijver et al. 2016).

Enablers and Barriers for The Tourism Industry

The tourism industry is the highest contributor to GDP not only in Australia but also in any country. So, the factors that can enable the industry to flourish and the barriers that must be removed are of utmost importance. The pillars on which the tourism industry works depend on the geographic setting, community infrastructure, social infrastructure, competitive environment, political stability, and security (Hardiman & Burgin, 2017). Tourism enablers may be described as: local authority funding that supports diverse facets of sustainability, sound knowledge of the mechanics and function of the tourism industry, and growing marketing strategies that catch the experience of tourists on digital platforms.

As an engine of a region's economic and social development, tourism requires both seasoned individuals and people working in diverse sectors in the rural areas of the state of Victoria. Studies have concluded that tourism industry obstacles include a lack of knowledge of tourist handling system and conduct, a lack of market knowledge, a lack of financial and human capital such as transportation, food provision and many others. Dwyer (2018) predicts that financial development and political recession are indirectly related to reduce potency of an organisation. After this global pandemic and natural disaster, travel costs have risen up to compensate for the loss that occurred in the past months. This can also lessen the rate of visits.

Direct and Indirect Impact of The Multiplier Effect

The tourism industry is an important sector that affects economic growth worldwide. Introduced by Hughes,1994, and D.C. Frechtling and Hovarth, 1999, the multiplier consequence can be defined as a gauge of the impact of extra spending introduced into an financial system. In its simplest form, it can be defined as how many times the funds exhausted by a traveller circulate through a nation’s wealth (Jones, Hillier & Comfort, 2016). The multiplier effect can be measured in two forms- the multiplier effect from tourism and the expenditure effect in terms of tourism.

Direct impact of the multiplier effect is when the tourist’s spending creates direct revenues for the country’s economy. When the recipients of this direct revenue spend the money to buy necessary goods it leads to an indirect multiplier effect. Revenue from both these direct and indirect effects if spent on unrelated goods and services contributed to the multiplier effect (Font & McCabe, 2017). Previously, Australia’s tourism industry from Victoria contributed direct-multiplier partially while the other half was fulfilled by the indirect and induced effect. However, after the disaster and pandemic, since a lesser number of visitors are participating in tourism, the contribution economy has changed to - 20% from direct impact while the rest is from indirect and induced effect (Higgins-Desbiolles, 2018).

Dependency of Workforce in Australian Tourism Industry

The tourism trade is a labour-intensive field that provides job opportunities for people who have trouble seeking work elsewhere. People may also take part-time jobs, such as low-skilled workers, low-skilled workers in general, ethnic minority communities and refugees, unemployed young adults, as well as women with family commitments. Data analysis represented 53.6% and 46.4% employment of males and females respectively in Australia (Espiner, Orchiston&Higham, 2017). Victoria’s workforce development is interrelated with the subsequent precedence areas- the establishment of a extremely trained labour force, admittance to excellence service, creating the potential through better personnel planning, improving labour market matching services, encouraging innovation in all aspects of business processes, and extending the traditional workforce. The local government after this pandemic outbreak and bushfire attack is engaged in establishing ways of identifying and attracting suitable people currently unemployed and interested in this tourism industry and ensuring them that the industry is an attractive long-term career option, which ultimately increases the economic development of the country.

Relationship Between Natural Disaster and Tourism

Tourism and natural disaster are directly proportional. Disasters generally have a negative impact on international tourism. This happens due to infrastructural damage, which leads to the weakening of the economy. Natural disasters can cause temporary or permanent damage to the beauty, culture and economy of the place. Natural disasters can also have positive impacts on tourism. Supposedly, during the bushfire spread in Australia many of the wild animals and people from adjoining villages were rescued by airlifting them. After control of the fire, they were returned back to their respective place. Amidst this, the corona virus pandemic has affected the tourism sector a lot these days though the local Government has given permission to open tourism areas with pre-booking facilities. The Government is backing business to invest and help in the recovery of the economy from Corona virus outbreak by increasing the annual turnover threshold from $50 million to 500 million (Budeanu et al. 2016).

Relationship Between Man-Made Disaster and Tourism

Man-made disasters that mainly affect tourism alongside environmental pollution are terrorist attacks, political issues and shortage of labour (Budeanu et al. 2016). The smoke from the bushfires has damaged the whole environment and the Covid-19 outbreak; both adversely affected the respiratory conditions of the local inhabitants ceasing tourism.

Recovery and Reconstruction of Tourist Spot

Recovery and reconstruction processes for Victoria, a famous tourist spot of Australia is given below by which future growth of the tourism industry can be ensured in a perfect manner. Along with this, revenue generation can also be possible for this sector under terms and conditions for management development perspectives.

• Reconstruction of Victoria is required for Australia as it is one of the most effective tourist spots of this country that is affected badly by corona virus pandemic as well as bushfire. It is required to communicate with content marketer by hotel industry particularly in this location for delivering their point of view for all tourists. On the other hand, content marketing will help in joint venture scheme and business propagation can also be possible through thus.
• Political constraints have to be removed from Australian business environment, as the any business community does not accept decentralization of political view. As per the opinion of Battistella et al. (2018), sustainable business model has to be followed by Australian tourism industry for providing better tourist attraction in Victoria.
• Terrorist related hurdles are a major sustainability issue for Australian tourism industry and it is predicted that number of terrorists are greater in Victoria location. According to the view of Mondal, M., & Haque, S. (2017), terrorists are responsible to reduce security for foreign tourists. Therefore, proper legal rules and regulations are needed to solve this issue in a greater manner.
• For reducing probability of pandemic situation, renovation in Australian hotel industry is needed particularly for Victoria area and proper sanitation for rooms are required to minimise spreading of viruses. On the other hand, modification in food departments of famous restaurant situated in Victoria location is also needed for providing better business facilities for both tourists as well as employees. In addition, the tourism organisations in Victoria have to develop its point of view regarding labour shortage and proper remuneration is also needed to provide them.

Concept of Sustainable Tourism

The idea of travelling places as a visitor and seeking to have a positive effect on the climate, culture, and the economy is sustainable tourism. Main transport to the general area, local transit, lodging, leisure, recreation, food and shopping may be included in tourism. As per the opinion of Kuščer&Mihalič (2019), sustainable tourism is beneficial for hospitality sector of any country as it provides economic benefits under suitable protection for environment. On the other hand, it is helpful for local communities to gain money through sustainable tourism. In case of Australian tourism industry, it is necessary to follow sustainable tourism approach by which it becomes possible to generate real time profit at any consequences. Apart from this, loss of Australian tourism industry due to pandemic can also be fixed by applying this environmentally friendly approach in business process. However, concept of sustainable mobility is not applied for this business sector till date and revenue generation is low as a result.

Advantages of Sustainable Tourism

Advantages of sustainable tourism are given below that can help to provide better insight of this concept for Australian Tourism industry in post-pandemic situation.

• Sustainable tourism is beneficial for local community and regional development can be possible with the help of this practice. As per the opinion of Budeanu et al. (2016), tourism progress is possible through sustainable practice. In case of Australian tourism industry, sustainable tourism can be used for providing employment for local people and corporate social responsibility can be achieved. On the other hand, locally owned business can help Australian tourism industry to improve their community involvement.
• Precious natural resources can be protected with the help of sustainable tourism and ecological stability can be managed. As pointed out by Dwyer (2018), sustainable tourism is developed based on natural resource protection. Therefore, this approach can be applied for Victoria in Australia by which it becomes possible to reduce business problems for hotels situated in the arrears affected by bushfire. Victoria is a popular place of tourist attraction in Australia and this can be renovated by using this modern approach.
• Sustainable tourism can be accomplished in a community centric manner and it is helpful to understand needs and demands of local community for further development. According to the view of Gholami et al. (2017), sustainable tourism offers new places of attraction in a cost-effective manner. By applying this strategy, tourism industry of Victoria area can be facilitated to engage customers more in business process and future contingencies can be solved in a relevant manner.
• International connections can be developed by sustainable tourism and it is beneficial to accomplish number of tasks at a time. As mentioned by Laitamaki et al. (2016), sustainable tourism is a strategic approach to promote joint venture scheme for tourism industry. It can be recommended for Australian business industry to ensure such facility for all tourists regarding air tickets and other vehicles by which connection with all communities can be acquired in a perfect manner.

Conclusion on Current Sustainability Issues Facing the Tourism Industry

It can be concluded from this study that Australian tourism sector is not able to manage its sustainability for modern days due to excessive natural disasters. On the other hand, issues related with COVID-19 pandemic situation are vulnerable for Australian tourism sector to reduce their business propagation in a negative manner. Apart from this, spin-off effect of terrorism is another major issue for Australian tourism sector that in turn reduce productivity and profitability in hospitality sector can be minimised. In addition, political unrest and distress is a reason for financial recession of Australian tourism sector. Along with this, pandemic situation is really vulnerable and economic down surge can be occurred because of this. However, this country tries to develop their point of view regarding sustainable tourism and they can follow environmental management scheme. Problem regarding skilled labours can be solved by introducing sustainable tourism management approach and both the reliability and authenticity for business can be resolved.

References for Current Sustainability Issues Facing the Tourism Industry

Abascal, T. E., Fluker, M., & Jiang, M. (2016). Domestic demand for Indigenous tourism in Australia: Understanding intention to participate. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 24(8-9), 1350-1368. Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09669582.2016.1193187

Balli, F., &Tsui, W. H. K. (2016). Tourism demand spillovers between Australia and New Zealand: evidence from the partner countries. Journal of Travel Research, 55(6), 804-812. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Faruk_Balli/publication/276369918_Tourism_Demand_Spillovers_between_Australia_and_New_Zealand/links/5637a70208ae30cbeff4d35f/Tourism-Demand-Spillovers-between-Australia-and-New-Zealand.pdf

Battistella, C., Cagnina, M. R., Cicero, L., &Preghenella, N. (2018). Sustainable business models of SMEs: Challenges in yacht tourism sector. Sustainability, 10(10), 3437. Retrieved from: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/10/3437/pdf

Budeanu, A., Miller, G., Moscardo, G., &Ooi, C. S. (2016). Sustainable tourism, progress, challenges and opportunities: an introduction. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Can_Seng_Ooi/publication/312446410_Sustainable_tourism_progress_challenges_and_opportunities_an_introduction/links/59d32aa5aca2721f436c986a/Sustainable-tourism-progress-challenges-and-opportunities-an-introduction.pdf

Dwyer, L. (2018). Saluting while the ship sinks: the necessity for tourism paradigm change. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 26(1), 29-48. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Larry_Dwyer/publication/317605524_Saluting_while_the_ship_sinks_the_necessity_for_tourism_paradigm_change/links/5d36b45892851cd0467e3f3d/Saluting-while-the-ship-sinks-the-necessity-for-tourism-paradigm-change.pdf

Dwyer, L. (2018). Saluting while the ship sinks: the necessity for tourism paradigm change. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 26(1), 29-48. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Larry_Dwyer/publication/317605524_Saluting_while_the_ship_sinks_the_necessity_for_tourism_paradigm_change/links/5d36b45892851cd0467e3f3d/Saluting-while-the-ship-sinks-the-necessity-for-tourism-paradigm-change.pdf

Espiner, S., Orchiston, C., &Higham, J. (2017). Resilience and sustainability: A complementary relationship? Towards a practical conceptual model for the sustainability–resilience nexus in tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(10), 1385-1400. Retrieved from: https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/7152/Resilience%20&%20Sustainability_Orchiston.pdf?sequence=1

Font, X., & McCabe, S. (2017). Sustainability and marketing in tourism: Its contexts, paradoxes, approaches, challenges and potential. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(7), 869-883. Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09669582.2017.1301721

Gholami, R., Ravishankar, M. N., Shirazi, F., &Machet, C. (2017). An exploratory study on sustainable ICT capability in the travel and tourism industry: the case of a global distribution system provider. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 40(1), 22. Retrieved from: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/288369319.pdf

Hardiman, N., & Burgin, S. (2017). Nature tourism trends in Australia with reference to the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(6), 732-745. Retrieved from: http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/23785/9/23785.pdf

Higgins-Desbiolles, F. (2018). Sustainable tourism: Sustaining tourism or something more?. Tourism management perspectives, 25, 157-160. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Freya_Higgins-Desbiolles/publication/321469963_Sustainable_tourism_Sustaining_tourism_or_something_more/links/5a8e1263458515eb85ac84e9/Sustainable-tourism-Sustaining-tourism-or-something-more

Huveneers, C., Meekan, M. G., Apps, K., Ferreira, L. C., Pannell, D., & Vianna, G. M. (2017). The economic value of shark-diving tourism in Australia. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 27(3), 665-680. Retrieved from: https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/files/35085198/AAM_The_economic_value_of_shark_diving.docx

Jones, P., Hillier, D., & Comfort, D. (2016). Sustainability in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Retrieved from: http://eprints.glos.ac.uk/698/1/Jones%20%282016%29%20sustainability%20in%20the%20hospitality%20industry%20with%20cover%20sheet.pdf

Kuščer, K., &Mihalič, T. (2019). Residents’ attitudes towards overtourism from the perspective of tourism impacts and cooperation—The case of Ljubljana. Sustainability, 11(6), 1823. Retrieved from: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/6/1823/pdf

Laitamaki, J., Hechavarría, L. T., Tada, M., Liu, S., Setyady, N., Vatcharasoontorn, N., & Zheng, F. (2016). Sustainable tourism development frameworks and best practices: Implications for the Cuban tourism industry. Managing Global Transitions, 14(1), 7. Retrieved from: http://www.fm.upr.si/zalozba/ISSN/1581-6311/14-1.pdf#page=9

Mondal, M., & Haque, S. (2017). SWOT analysis and strategies to develop sustainable tourism in Bangladesh. UTMS Journal of Economics, 8(2), 159-167. Retrieved from: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/195304/1/1011397595.pdf

Van De Vijver, E., Derudder, B., O’Connor, K., &Witlox, F. (2016). Shifting patterns and determinants of Asia-Pacific tourism to Australia, 1990–2010. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 21(12), 1357-1372. Retrieved from: https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8522819/file/8522820.pdf

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