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TOURISM IN OCEANA (I): AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND

THE GEOGRAPHIC SETTING

Region covers of the Earths surface Pacific Ocean serves as both a link and a barrier Many different overlapping place names
Country, island grouping, ethnic grouping, etc.

PHYSICAL PATTERNS
Climate
Most islands in tropical and subtropical zone Mild temperatures Arid in Australias interior, low islands
Australia: only one river system

CLIMATES OF OCEANIA

Figure 11.8

Moist everywhere else, high islands El Nio: Causes droughts every 2-7 years

PHYSICAL PATTERNS
Flora and Fauna
Isolation has had impacts on life in Oceania Australia: 144 species of endemic marsupials
Endemic plants adapted to aridity

HUMAN PATTERNS OVER TIME

The Peopling of Oceania
Australian Aborigines: migrated in 50,000-70,000 years ago
Melanesians settled surrounding areas (i.e., New Guinea)

New Zealand and the Pacific: Islands have to be colonized by animals and plants carried by wind or birds
Biodiversity thins to east, away from land

Austronesians: Migrate throughout Pacific about 5000-6000 years ago Three cultural regions: Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia

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OCEANIA

CULTURE GROUPS IN THE PACIFIC

Figure 11.13

COLONIZATION OF OCEANIA
Europeans first contacted this area in 1521, when the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan landed on the Micronesian island of Guam (now a US colony) The region was officially divided among colonial powers in the early 19th century. The colonial powers included Japan, France, Britain, the US, and Germany

HUMAN PATTERNS OVER TIME

Arrival of the Europeans
Pacific divided among Europeans by the 1800s
Displacement of natives, idea of noble savage

On resource-rich islands, relatively simple social organization On resource-poor islands, social hierarchies instituted

HUMAN PATTERNS OVER TIME

The Colonization of Australia and New Zealand
Australia: founded by UK as penal colony NZ: Founded later by voluntary immigrants
Natives thrust into grinding poverty

POPULATION PATTERNS
Just 34 million people
2/3 live in Australia

Australia and NZ: older, slower growing populations

Other countries: younger, faster growing

Shifting Ties
Until WWII, strong ties to UK; after WWII, U.S. Since 1970s, increasing connection to Asia

High rates of urbanization throughout

Often poorer standard of living than rural

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POPULATION DENSITY IN OCEANIA

Figure 11.16

AUSTRALIA

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ISSUES

Shift from Export to Service Economies
Still very little manufacturing; undercut by Asia Pacific islands tend more towards extraction

ORIGIN OF TOURISTS

Tourism
Growing rapidly, creates problems for ecology Attempt to promote sustainable tourism

Figure 11.26

THE EARLY DAYS

Australia received hardly any international tourists prior to 20th century due to geographic isolation 1958 = Australia received 60,000 international visitors (47,000 from Commonwealth countries) The inclusion of Sydney and Melbourne on the [Thomas] Cook itinerary [in 1872] marked the beginning of packaged international tourist travel to the Australian and New Zealand colonies (Hall, 2007: 70) Until the 1980s Australia was not important as a holiday destination, the great majority of visitors being business or VFR travellers (Boniface & Cooper, 2005: 390)

AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES

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AUSTRALIAN TOURISM TODAY

Tourism contributes approximately 10.5% of Australias GDP and accounts for almost 12% of jobs. On average today Australians are taking at least two domestic holidays each year (most of these occur at the intra-state level) The domestic holiday high season is December to January and focuses on the Eastern coastline between Sydney and Northern Queensland Australia is one of the worlds most popular backpacker tourism destinations VFR tourism is becoming less important than historically (particularly from the UK) Australia attracts a significant education tourism market, particularly from Asia

AUSTRALIAN TOURISM RESOURCES

Cultural icons (e.g., Sydney opera house and Uluru) Events (e.g., Sydney Gay and lesbian mardi gras and Australian Formula 1 grand prix) Beaches (more on these in a little while) Vineyards (e.g., Hunter Valley) Ski tourism (e.g., Thredbo and Perisher ski resorts in the Snowy Mountains) Natural wonders (e.g., the Great Barrier reef, Murray river, and Bungle Bungle National Park) Entertainment (e.g., Warner Brothers Movieworld) Wildlife (e.g., kangaroos, wombats, koalas, Tasmanian Devils, the platypus, and kookaburras) Mining (e.g., Opel mining at Coober Pedy)

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN TOURISM INDUSTRY

Long way from anywhere Links with the American led war on terrorism Human rights record Health and safety fears (Australia ranked as the 2nd most dangerous place for British tourists to visit, with 59 dying in the country between April 2005 and march 2004) Image problems Poor marketing campaigns

WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TebeNC_VjA

ANOTHER FACE OF AUSTRALIA: THE CRONULLA RACE RIOTS (2005)

"Come to Cronulla this weekend to take revenge. This Sunday every Aussie in the Shire get down to North Cronulla to support Leb and wog bashing day." (Mass mobilising text message) Examples of slogans and chants: "We Grew Here, You Flew Here", "Wog Free Zone", "Aussie Pride", "Ethnic Cleansing Unit", "Lebs out". They will probably, like, possibly out-breed us. (young Australian who took part in riots) Cronulla in 2005 features echoes of the philosophy of the One Nation party founded in Ipswich, Queensland in 1997 that saw Australia as being a place for whites of northwest European descent

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AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF AUSTRALIA

NEW ZEALAND: ON THE EDGE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRtp6xS J-rI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=411ueiat2 sY

MARKETING NEW ZEALAND (WHAT NZ HAS TO OFFER)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeJSfRD wQ4A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl2su4en JhI&feature=fvsr

INBOUND VISITORS
2500000 2000000 Visitor numbers 1500000 1000000 500000 0 1970 1984 1992 1994 1999 2004 2005 2008 Year

TOP MARKETS

SEASONALITY

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EXPENDITURE

INBOUND MARKETS
Australia and New Zealand are economically, culturally, and politically part of the developed Western world (Boniface & Cooper, 2005: 389) This is, traditionally, where they have looked to for tourists Australia (about 40% of all international visitors) UK (12% approximately) USA (9% approximately) Asia China (5% approximately) Since the 1990s the overall market mix has become increasingly diverse and less dominated by English-speaking tourists from the traditional markets of Australia, the USA and the United Kingdom (Pearce & Simmons, 1997: 202)

LOOKING TO ASIA
Since 1970, Australia and New Zealand have loosened their ties to Britain and forged closer trade links with the USA and the countries of east Asia, especially Japan (Boniface & Cooper, 2005: 389) Much recent growth has occurred from Asia due to more general developments in outbound travel from this region (Pearce & Simmons, 1997: 197) Circuit tourism = touring New Zealand (by car, campervan, coach, by bike, or on foot) VFR tourism Destination-based tourism (e.g., Queenstown)

SHORT-TERM OUTBOUND TOURISM FROM NEW ZEALAND

2000000 1800000 1600000 1400000 1200000 1000000 800000 600000 400000 200000 0 1970 1980 1990 Year 1993 2008 Number of departures

OUTBOUND DESTINATIONS
Australia dominates (about 50% of all outbound visits are to this country) Southeast Asia South Pacific islands The UK North America

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LONG-TERM OUTBOUND TOURISM: THE OE

Rite of passage/coming of age ritual To escape and to see what is out there in the world Generally young Kiwis first major trip outside of the country It blends tourism and work, with the latter seen as a means of extending the duration of the travel experience (work to travel) The intention is not to migrate though this can occur as a result of the OE and the experience itself can lead to several years being spent away from New Zealand

PROBLEMS
Remoteness: A strength and a problem End of oil Pressure on visitor experiences (particularly popular walking tracks) Cheap tour experiences degrading quality of visitor experience
Campervans, freedom camping, and trash

OPPORTUNITIES:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it9RnDqiAJ 8&feature=related

KIWIS ON HOLIDAY
Data from the late 1980s showed a decline in the scale of domestic tourism at the same time that more New Zealanders were travelling abroad than had previously been the case Similar pattern is seen from 2004 to 2008 International tourism being substituted for domestic tourism the domestic tourism industry contributed $12.4 billion or 57% of total tourism expenditure in 2008 65% of domestic trips did not involve an overnight stay Of the overnight trips most were defined as a holiday (42%), with the rest accounted for by VFR (38%) and business (16%)

SUGGESTED READINGS
Bell, C. 2002. The big 'OE' : Young New Zealand travellers as secular pilgrims. Tourist Studies. 2 (2): 143 - 158 Boniface, B. & Cooper, C. 2005. Worldwide Destinations: The Geography of Travel and Tourism (4th ed). Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 398 - 401 Pearce, D. & Simmons, D. 1997. New Zealand: Tourism the challenges of growth. F. Go & C. Jenkins (eds). Tourism and Economic Development in Asia and Australasia. London: Pinter. pp. 197 220 Hall, M, C. 2007. Tourism in Australia: development, Issues and Change. Ch 3. Schott, C. (2010) Tourism and the Implications of Climate Change: Issues and Actions. Emerald