Australian Tourism and International Marketing - Term Paper Example

Australian Tourism Introduction The Australian tourism industry contributes to a greatly to job creation, export earnings and regional growth. Tourism generated 4.5% of Australia’s gross domestic product in 2001-02 and with a total intake of $70.8billion by tourists, and direct employment of 5.9% of working Australians. The industry accounted for 11.2% of total exports which made it the biggest export earner within the services sector. (national tourism policy review, 2003,2).As of the year 2010, the industry was a $41 billion industry and was providing jobs for almost half a million Australians, and the source of income for the regional populations. It was the foremost services export contributing to $24 billion or over 10% of Australia’s total earnings, (facts and figures, 2010, 2). From the above data, it can be seen that tourism is an important industry in Australia. It is therefore important that they come up with a marketing strategy to market this industry in the world and especially the Asian market, where by, most of the Asian countries are experiencing great economic growth, for example China. The tourism industry in Australia is mostly run by different state establishments that are made up of state agencies, regional tourism societies, visitor centers and the industry itself. Every state or territory within Australia has its own government agency to work with the tourism industry within its borders. The agencies and the federal government have formed organizations to promote Australia’s tourism industry globally, (Understanding the Tourism Industry, 2009). The document is going to deal with how the tourism industry can be marketed in Japan. Japan being a key market for the tourism industry, it is important that the Australian tourism promoters come up with a viable marketing strategy so that they can be able to earn the forecasted income from Japan. This forecasted income was for the growth expenditure of 2020, where they expect Japan to have a growth expenditure of $1.2-$1.8 billion, (Tourism Industry Potential, 2010). Japan Brief Japan is a country that has a rich historical background and their culture is greatly influenced by that history. Japan is located in the South East Asia and consists of a succession of islands which extend along the Eastern or Pacific coast of Asia. The four core islands, successively from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu (or the mainland), Shikoku, and Kyushu. Japan has an expanse of sq.km 377,835 and Tokyo is its capital city. The additional major cities are Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kobe, Kyoto and Fukuoka. It is located in a volcanic zone alongside the Pacific depth and throughout the islands; recurrent low intensity earth tremors and sporadic volcanic action are felt. Damaging earthquakes ensue several times a century. It has a variable climate from subtropical to temperate. It has a populace of approximately 127.08 million plus a populace increase rate of -0.191%. It experienced a significant growth rate during the past 100 years as a because of technical, engineering, and sociological changes, but this has reduced due to a decline in birth the rate; In 2005, Japan's populace dropped for the first time, two years earlier than expected (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2006). Economic Analysis The Japanese financial system is the third biggest in the earth only surpassed by the United States and china and Germany’s economy is placed fourth. As per the findings of the International Monetary Fund in 2009, the country had a per capita GDP of $32,608 or the twenty third highest. The Japanese economy is placed second as per the nominal GDP and she was ranked third as per the GDP-PPP (Purchasing Power Potential).the Nominal GDP of the country as per the year 2009 was $5.073 Trillion and the GDP-PPP was $4.141 Trillion. The GDP growth of Japan between the year 1990 and 2005 has a range of values between 440 – 503 million Japanese yen. (Japan Economy 2010) Japan was among the first Asian countries to adopt a development oriented ideology post the World War II with its Just in Time policy. However, the quest for economic growth was pursued to the detriment of other critical sectors such as agriculture and the environment. As a consequence in the 1950's and 1960’s there was a rapid decline in the state of the environment (Furuoka et al, 1998, 1). Commendably, the country developed awareness about the environment as time went by and they implemented a raft of more environmentally mindful policies. More recently, Japan has encountered sluggish economic development or even recessions in the past decade, (Cooper, 2007, p. 2). The Japanese economy has encountered a lot of difficulties since the 1990s such as the extended and deep downturns after the economic bubble burst of 1991, the financial crunch in 1997 and 1998, and the latest economic collapse along with the global economic crunch, (Guo, 2009, p. 3). The country experienced a spectacular overall economic growth for about three decades which averaged 10% in the 1960’s,5% in the 1970’s and 4% in the 1980’s.its economic growth slowed in the 1990’s where it averaged just about 1.7%, this was mainly due to the after effects of inefficiency in investments and a price bubble in the asset market in the late 1980’s.this resulted in long periods of time where firms reduced excess debt, labour and funds. Its industrial, free-market economy is the third-largest in the world. Its economy is very effective and competitive in areas related to international trade, but output is lower in protected sectors such as agriculture, distribution, and services. Japan is rich in industrial management and technicians, learned and diligent work force, high rates of savings and investing, and rigorous promotion of industrial expansion and foreign trade has shaped a developed industrial economy. This is quite an accomplishment since they have limited natural resources, and they make their foreign exchange through trade. Political Analysis Japan has a parliamentary system of government but it also has a monarchy that is entrenched in the constitution. All elective bureaucrats are voted through a secret ballot. Its sovereignty is entrusted in the Japanese people and the emperor is defined as state symbol. Its government is a legislative democracy, with a House of legislative body or the Subordinate House and a House of councilors or the Upper House. The cabinet is composed of a civilian prime minister and ministers’ and it has all the executive powers. The prime-minister have the power to appoint and remove ministers, but with an autonomous judiciary. They have mainly seven major political parties, which are represented in the National Diet. These are the “Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the People’s New Party (PNP), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the New Clean Government Party (Komeito), the Japan Communist Party (JCP), and Your Party (YP)” (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2006) Its judicial structure comprises of a number of stages of courts, with the High Court as the ultimate legal authority and it is also drawn from traditional rule, national rule, as well as Anglo-American general rule. The Japanese magistrates don’t use a board of judges’ structure, and there are no governmental courts or allegation courts. The court decisions are mainly made in accordance with the legal laws. Only the Supreme Court’s decisions have any effect directly on later interpretation of the law.it does not have a centralized system but it has prefectures which are 47 in total. The 47 prefectures are not sovereign bodies and most rely on the central government for grants. Prefecture governors, municipality mayors, and members of the prefectural and municipal assemblies are all elected to 4-year terms and they must be popularly elected. Cultural Analysis Japan is country that is deeply rooted in culture, in terms of their food, mode of dressing and way of life. They have a different perspective of life which is totally different from the western culture and it is greatly influenced by their great history and religion. Culture was defined by the anthropologist Edward Taylor as that multifaceted sum total which comprises of acquaintance, belief, talent, ethics, law, tradition, as well as additional abilities obtained by man as a component of the social order (Taylor,1871). From this definition, it can be seen that culture is a mixture of many aspects of man’s life; it encompasses all the various aspects that affect the way a human being behaves and reacts to certain situations and finally man’s outlook of life. But among the other capabilities as put by Edward Taylor, fiscal and political philosophy, religion, language and education systems can be included. (Recep et al, 2009).The Japanese day to day life is steeped in culture. They have a culture of working hard. Their lives were as well influenced by their customs along with what they have been brought up knowing. The Japanese culture is to be collectivistic in nature where by the group is the epicenter of all decision making as compared to one that is individualistic in nature where by decision making is centered on an individual. But collectivism is not a monumental value-system which exhibits itself in only one communication configuration. Further, collectivism has been theorized as a variety rather than a contrast. (Wiseman et al, 1995, 6).In the Japanese culture the values are defined in terms of a group and the virtues and talents of an individual are valued in terms of usefulness to the group. They have a greater sense of community. Even when we look at Japanese relationships, they have long term relationships such as a student and the teacher or mother-daughter relationship. They think in terms of long term such as saving for the benefit of their children or working hard for the benefit of the children. In the Japanese culture they try and avoid conflicts because their relationships are long term. In the Japanese culture, words are generally used as part of the message; there are other factors that convey the intended message such as stillness, slight body language, disposition, manner, and perception, (Doing business in Japan, 2006). This is in contrast to the western countries that prefer straight talking as communications style; they prefer that their words convey the intent of the speaker. The Japanese are apprehensive of words and they believe that silence is a means of communication. They are more action oriented. In reality they are more contented with long periods of quietness and less chatter than the westerners. The Japanese also don’t give explanations and their answers are usually vague. They do not like saying no and they disclose to you if they do not understand a concept or something else. They also prefer to have a larger personal space while talking to other people unlike the westerners. Getting to close to them is usually a sign of rudeness. The Japanese also have other body behaviors that are baffling to the westerners such as direct eye contact which they view as being rude hence while talking to Japanese person it is important that one does not make direct eye contact. a nod in the westerner culture is usually viewed as a sign of agreement but in the Japanese culture this means that they are simply listening to you. Marketing Implications From the above analysis, it provides various marketing implications, one of them being the way the marketing is done. The marketing of Australia as a tourist destination should take into account the economic situation of the country and by that I mean the financial situation of the general public; it should also take into account the political scene of the country as it generally affects the economy and it helps in judging the mood of the general populace. The marketer should also take into account the culture of the Japanese people, which is deeply rooted in tradition and religion. Form the available data it can be seen that Japan is a very important market of the Australian tourist industry. The country is considered the third largest economy in the world and it has a high GDP. The problems that the Japanese economy is facing can be a problem especially for the tourism marketing this is because of the Japanese spending capabilities are greatly reduced and they the psychological state at that time is one of saving.as can be seen from the culture where they have high saving rates. This means that the marketers should offer more package deals and discounts to the average Japanese traveller. The economy has greatly reduced the Japanese people spending abilities which have driven them to look for more part time jobs so as to supplement their income especially the farming community. This is against a backdrop of the financial crunch and the disaster that recently hit the country in form of an earthquake and the tsunami. It will take a great deal of work for the Australian marketers so as to be able to gain a foot hold in Japan. Politics also play as major role in people's confidence but the Japanese political field is very volatile, there is a lot of instability especially the prime minister's post. This has resulted in little self-assurance in the political elite by the ordinally citizen. This has made most of the Japanese people to be more careful in spending as they are uncertain of what is in store for them in the political scene. This also affects the economy, which in turn destroys the confidence the people have on their government. Consequently, this makes them to be frugal in their spending habits. To counteract this, the tourism marketers in Japan must offer deals that will enable the people to enjoy themselves and also to spend as little as possible which also is a problem for the marketers as the main aim of promoting Australia as a tourist destination is to enable the tourists to spend as much as possible. Culture as well carries out a key function in the Japanese society given that they are very traditional in their thinking. The Japanese culture has various aspects and one significant feature is the utilization of body language. The style of communication for the two countries is different. The Japanese tend to use fewer words and more actions while in the Australian culture language are used to communicate the anticipated meaning. For example the Japanese are comfortable with long periods of quietness and less chatter and they usually use this tactic to unnerve westerners especially in business meetings. In order for the Australian marketers to be able to get more of the Japanese people to visit Australia, they must understand their culture and they must be able to segment the Japanese people to be able to market to specific group of people. The culture makes the marketing of the tourism industry tricky as the marketer should consider the Japanese culture when designing the most suitable package for the market. Since the Japanese are collectivistic in nature, it’s important that the Australian tourism industry players come up with tour packages that will cater for families, company vacations and any set of groups such as students. The packages should be more group oriented unlike being centered on the individual. Value to the Australian Economy From the international visitor profile of 2009, Japan was the fifth largest inbound market. There were 332,449 visitors from japan over 15 years of age and 355,421 visitors in total. The average length of stay for visitors from japan was 22 nights compared to the national average of 34 nights and visitors from japan accounted for 4% of all international visitor nights in 2009, making japan the sixth largest market in terms of nights. They spent $1.5 billion on trips to Australia in 2009, spending on average $4,528 per trip. But it greatly reduced in the year 2010, where there were 357,300 visitors which saw a decrease in visitors from japan of-19.5% this as at 31st January. But for the year ended 31st January for the 10/11 season, the number of visitors increased to 393,400 visitors which was 10.1% increase, (Australian Bureau of Statistics).The outbound travel from Japan has greatly decreased from 23.3 million in 2000, to 19.8 million in 2009. Australia’s stake of Japan’s overall outbound travelers has reduced from 3.1% in 2000, to 1.8% in 2009 and it was rated 13th among all outbound destinations, (Outbound Market Share Analysis, 2010). From the above data, it can be seen that Japan is of value to the Australian tourism industry and the Australian economy at that. Despite the challenges of the economic crunch the decline in tourists from Japan seem to be improving. The tourism marketers should be aggressive in marketing Australia as the preferred destination so as to ensure that the number of Japanese visitors increases. This is going to be a great challenge to them in light of the earthquake and tsunami that occurred recently, the Japanese people are focused on rebuilding their lives but with consistency and communication of the right message will ensure that Australia be the preferred travel destination. References 2020 Tourism Industry Potential (2010). 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A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Compliance Gaining: China, Japan, and the United States, Intercultural Communication Studies V: 1 pg 6 Retrieved on 24th of March, 2011 http://www.trinity.edu/org/ics/ICS%20Issues/05%20ICS%20V%201/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20p%20%201%20Wiseman%20et%20al.pdf Read More