Strategically Analysis for Adventure Tourism in Australia - Case Study Example

Adventure Tourism Student Name Instructor Name Course Code and Name University Date of Submission Adventure Tourism Introduction For a long time now, tourism has become a major foreign exchange earner for Australia, majorly due to the natural environment and other tourism activities that have placed Australia on the global picture. Only recently, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge chose Australia as one of their preferred tourism destination. However, this paper is biased towards adventure tourism as among the fastest growing segments of the global tourism sector. Adventure tourism has been defined as a leisure activity that takes place in an exotic, unusual, wilderness or remote destination, as it tends to be associated with a high level of involvement in the case of the participants. Adventure tourism has been described as a special kind of tourism in that it gives the explorers to get a feel of the adrenaline rush as they expect the unexpected to happen. Australia in particular offers a wide variety in terms of adventure tourism, such as surfing, rock-climbing, skiing, skydiving, snowboarding, scuba diving, bungee jumping, snorkelling, among others. Australia is strategically placed for adventure tourism in that it has an extensive stretch of coastline that has one of the nest beaches that have been used for among other activities, skydiving. Skydiving has been one of the most sort-after adventure tourism activities in Australia, given that it provides safe locations for adventure seekers as it has supported a growing skydiving industry. Some of the best known adventure tourism locations in Australia include the Gold Coast, the Great Barrier Reef, Byron Bay, the Reef Cairns, and Mission Beach. This has given rise to skydiving companies that offer skydiving services, most notably the Australia Skydrive Group, Skydive the Beach and Beyond and Australian Skydive, which have extensive experience in skydiving with no serious incidents or injuries during their period of existence. However, there have been challenges associated with adventure tourism and specifically skydiving, where operators have emerged with a diverse range of activities as a way of ensuring that their consumers get the ultimate experience. For that reason, this paper will examine the challenges and opportunities that are available with regards to adventure tourism and its impact on the tourism sector. Skydiving in Australia Although skydiving has been part of the adventure tourism activities, it has become a sport that many tourists have been seeking to have such an experience. As mentioned earlier, Australia has one of the longest coastlines that provide an excellent location for skydiving, in addition to the beautiful weather that is suitable for the sport. However, there have been issues associated with adventure tourism just virtually due it being a dangerous activity if the necessary safety measures have not been taken into place. In recent times, accidents have been acknowledged to the leading cause of mortality, injuries and morbidity among tourists travelling to foreign destinations (Callander & Page 2005, p. 2). It is important to mention that, accidents have been found to be the second largest cause of death among Scottish and U.S. overseas visitors, and has been established to be the main reason for overseas tourist hospital admissions in Queensland, Australia (Callander & Page 2005, p. 2). For that reason, the potential of events like accidents to negatively impact on the tourism sector is also well understood, as safety has been recognized as a key factor in the selection of tourist destinations. Skydiving as one of the most risky adventure tourism activities requires that the operators maintain high safety standards to their tourists in order to be guaranteed of increased overseas travel. The majority of the Australian skydiving companies boasts of having a long experience in skydiving, as well as professional instructors. For example, the Australian Skydive Group is a global leader in skydiving, given they have more than 30 years’ experience and was a pioneer in the industry. To date, the company has conducted more than 100,000 tandem skydives annually with a 100% safety record. This signifies the safety standards that operators in Australia have maintained as they strive to make Australia as a preferred destination for skydiving enthusiasts (Skydive, 2014, p. 5). Skydiving has been specifically singled out as a highly regulated sport, with many regulatory authorities developing a framework on how skydiving companies maintain quality services by implementing watertight safety measures. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is an important player in the Australian skydiving Subsector of the adventure tourism sector. The CASA is responsible for the safety regulation of civil air operations in Australia, as well as Australian aircraft overseas. It is also responsible for giving skydiving operators in Australia Air Operators Certificates, as well as approves their maintenance and engineering facilities. Another important role played by the CASA is providing safety education and training programs in cooperation with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. It is this regulatory environment that has ensured that the tourism industry in Australia maintains accidents associated with overseas travelers at insignificant levels. An important measure that is also regulated by the CASA is their role in the administration of the Civil Aviation (Carriers’ Liability) Act of 1959, which covers the accidents that caused by airplane accidents (Skydive 2014, p. 5). So as to guarantee the safety of adventure seekers, skydiving operators are required to seek accreditation with the Australian Parachute Federation (APF), which administers and represents sport parachuting across Australia. This means that the APT promotes high standards of safety and performance, and controls parachuting along with skydiving at most of civil operations in Australia. It is the only body approved by the CASA to set operational and safety standards, issue licenses and instructor ratings, conducts competitions and exams, and also distribute publications to keep all members up-to-date (Skydive 2014, p. 5). This makes skydiving in Australia one of the safest sports among the adventure tourism activities, explaining the high tourist numbers that have been reported in Australia. Aside from the safety regulation, the Australian government has been instrumental in ensuring high quality standards in the tourism sector. In particular, tourism businesses are taken through rigorous assessments to ensure that they deliver a quality experience. For the businesses that have assured their quality standards, the Australian government grants them the T-QUAL Tick, which is the national symbol for tourism quality (Skydive 2014, p. 5). Virtually, all the Australian skydiving companies have the T-QUAL Tick, meaning that they adopt the best quality standards in their field guaranteeing exceptional experience. Impact of the challenges facing China China’s population has become one of the most sought out tourists, majorly due to the country’s economic growth in the recent past. This has increased the discretionary income of Chinese that explains the spatial imbalance of tourism in China, which has been concentrated along its east coast. Although this is a problem in China, it has an effect on the global tourism sector as it affects the majority of the tourism destinations in one way or another, or might be a challenge in the global tourism sector, in the future. This might be the case for a country like Australia, which relies heavily on its coastline as a major tourism attraction site. Tourism is a seasonal activity, which means that tourism destinations experience congestions in terms of accommodation facilities and adventure tourism activities. In addition, adventure sports, such as skydiving, become hard to monitor with reference to quality and safety, as the resources available are outstretched, posing a threat to the local and international travelers. Infrastructure also plays a critical role in the success of any tourism sector, and where this resource is under pressure, it means that tourists do not enjoy their experience in the tourist destination. This may reduce the tourism revenues in the particular markets, which experience great pressure on their infrastructure as tour operators may not be able to provide new products for their customers. Quality assurance is important, especially for adventure tourism, which is known for its adrenaline rush. As mentioned earlier, safety is one of the determinants for the tourist selection of a destination; thus, when it is not guaranteed it affects tourist numbers in major adventure tourism destinations. The lack of quality assurance may be assumed that the safety is not guaranteed by operators, meaning that there lacks a clear compensation program for injuries related to sport, such as skydiving. The imbalance in China is also expected to be reflected in other tourism destinations, which have been lagging behind in terms of investment into accommodation and recreational facilities. This will likely affect the quality of services that they provide as they are forced to accommodate more travelers than their current carrying capacity. In general, this might affect the global classification of the tourism destinations, as some may be reviewed downwards, reducing their revenues drastically. Issues regarding sustainability have also come to the fore in the tourism industry as the world struggles to conserve natural resources (Paul & Geoffrey 2005, p. 247). As a result, there is a need for adventure tour operators to adopt environmentally friendly business practices in order to guarantee the sustainability of the sector in the future. It is important to mention that the tourism industry thrives in a scenic natural environment as this provides travelers with a different experience; thus, as the environment continues to be degraded, it poses a challenge to the global tourism industry as it damages one of its most important resource, nature. Finally, the recent political unrest in major tourism destinations such as Egypt is a cause for concern for the global tourism industry, as it has been attributed to the declining global tourism numbers (Paul & Geoffrey 2005, p. 247). In conclusion, all these factors provide a general trend that the global tourism industry is experiencing and would likely affect the operations of tour operators. List of references Callander, M & Page, SJ 2003, “Managing Risk in Adventure Tourism Operations in New Zealand: A Review of the Legal Case History and potential for Litigation,” Tourism Management, vol. 24, no. 1, p. 13-23. Paul, W & Geoffrey, S 2005, “Close to the “edge”: Critical Issues for Adventure Tourism Operators. Asian Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 10, No. 3, p. 247-261. Skydive.com 2014, Accreditation, Retrieved from http://www.skydive.com.au/about-us/accreditation/ Read More