Tourism Development in Australia

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to introduce tourism development in Australia. First, we show how tourism has been developing economically and how, despite an overall recent Australian economic slowdown, tourism development has been positive. We provide a brief profile on tourism relevant key figures and show that the share of Australian domestic tourism continues to be steadily over 70% compared to 30% international travel by Australians. There is increased interest from overseas visitors from countries such as China; with promising projections for tourism growth from other Asian incoming markets.

The second perspective of tourism development presents reflections on the socio-cultural development of tourism in Australia. We discuss how Australian policy makers have made efforts to link tourism development with cultural policy, and how the Australian way of life has been transferred into images and further assisted tourism brand development, for example by means of marketing campaigns.

Thirdly, we highlight the significant challenges that Australia is facing and introduce some of the environmental aspects that highly impact tourism development. We show that, due to the geographical distribution of attractions, infrastructure and vast nature, tourism is particularly susceptible to natural disasters and climate change. For instance, bushfires, floods and droughts already have had and will continue to have a strong influence on tourism and therefore will challenge policy makers, businesses as well as researchers in finding answers on how to best manage those environmental impacts.

Finally, the chapter presents two aspects of tourism development that are unique characteristics for Australian tourism: the challenges for indigenous tourism and the opportunities of China as a dominant incoming market.