Tracking the Concept of Sustainability in Australian Tourism Policy and Planning - Coursework Example

Tracking the Concept of Sustainability in Australian Tourism Policy and Planning Table of Contents 8.1 References 15 1.1 Executive Summary This report attempts to track down the concept of sustainability in Australian tourism policy and planning. The Australian government has integrated the concepts of sustainability and sustainable tourism principles into the tourism industry policy and planning, and this is mostly important. Even though the Australian Government have used sustainability in terms of policy and planning both at national level and state level, it has been heavily criticised for its economic and marketing focus when it comes to the policy of tourism that has been at the expense of social and environmental considerations. This report has been organised into eight parts, and it has been appropriately numbered throughout the document. The methodology that was used is reviewing of secondary sources. 2.1 Introduction Unexpected and rapid change has become a modern society norm. However, the world has become a steadily volatile place with water shortages, health epidemics, terrorism, changing consumption patterns, economic crises, increasing fuel prices, food and global warming confronting most countries (Sterman, 2012). The impact combination of such factors has reignited focusing of sustainable development as a continuing problem for governments and businesses in general, and for tourism specifically. It has been argued that the tourism sector is required to be prepared to address current and forthcoming problems in order to maintain the viability of the industry and the resources upon that it is depending; and therefore, there is a need for proactive strategic planning and decision-making by governments, businesses and any other stakeholders to increase opportunities, reduce adverse impacts as well as maintaining competitive merits. Furthermore, Sharpley (2000) argued that the sustainable tourism principles are accepted in general, but the function of tourism remains justified by the economic development objectives. Recently, Sharpley (2009) stressed that the discourse of sustainable tourism has been all going around in circles without a breakthrough and little use in the sector, suggesting a need to go beyond sustainable tourism so that tourism development can progress. However, it is still apparent that the rising focus on the climate change, environment, and sustainable development has led to wider planning perspectives for tourism worldwide, overcoming previous fixations with marketing growth and economic strategies (Kozak & Baloglu, 2010). Such a shift toward a sustainable development platform is representing a major step forward for the tourism sector. Therefore, in this context, the focus of this report is to track how the concept of sustainability has infiltrated and evolved in Australian tourism planning and policy. 3.1 Concept of Sustainability Sustainable development can be defined as a kind of development that is meeting the needs and desires of today’s generation without compromising the ability of generations in future meeting their needs. However, this term is somehow general and broad definition: for instance, it does not specify the future as well as current needs. Therefore, as same as with the growth concept, there are diverse definitions of what is sustainability and there would always be diverse views and opinions on what values need to be attached to landscapes, biodiversity, habitats. The Brundtland aligned social sustainability as a necessary element. This is also the reason for it being so positive towards economic growth, as the case is: what is required now is a brand period of economic growth, a growth that is stronger as well as environmentally and socially stable. It is significant to bear in mind that sustainability is not a definitive concept. It implies that there would always be conscious or unconscious political position in relation to the choice of development in production and environment. In general, it is significant to differentiate between two sustainability concepts, the “weak” and “strong” sustainability. 3.2 Two general Conceptions of Sustainability These can be characterised briefly as follows: 3.2.0 Weak Sustainability Depleting resources, species extinction, breaking down of the ecosystems can be compensated for if it took place in a process that is supporting opportunities for continuing maintenance or even expanding the economic opportunities. Additionally, nature, in this respect, is a form of capital that can be substituted with other forms of capital. However, development can be termed to be sustainable so long as it does not cause harm to the prospects of the continued attainment of the economic necessity. 3.2.1 Strong Sustainability This view point lays emphasis on development not leading to irretrievable loss of resources. Plants and animal species, raw materials and ecosystems have a value in themselves and not just as input in the economic process. Many of the indicators for development that have been suggested as alternatives or even supplements to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) concept can be classified according to these two sustainability perspectives. These two perspectives lead to potentially fundamentally different views of the given pattern of development. Their weigh is different among the ecology and economy and, therefore provides vast, diverse policy recommendations. They are, however, not always conflicting with each other. In Danish environmental policy, a good example of strong sustainability is the conservation legislation, while the weaker sustainability is a characteristic of all things ranging from the issuing of environmental permits for agriculture and businesses to permits for building houses and even to the new infrastructure construction. However, the discussion is just as very old as fundamental it is. It must be realised that there can be fundamental uncertainty about the consequences of the economic activities. It is always here that the main section of the debate is situated. The most recent example is the question of global climate, where there have been attempts to calculate future consequences of the present day emissions by ways of constructing bigger computer models of the worldwide climate that are regularly upgraded with data from for example air as well as sea temperatures, inland ice drilling in Greenland and with subsystems such as feedback effects from clouds, the sea and melt of tundra. The prognoses would, thus, also keep on being reviewed on a regular basis. In the light of these uncertainties, the proponents of strong sustainability will presumably refer to the precautionary principle. Perhaps, sustainable development is not in a harmony field state, but instead a process of change in which the orientation of technological development, the direction of investments, resource exploitation, and change in institution are made consistently with present and future needs as well as. 4.1 Overview of Sustainable Tourism A sustainable tourism is defined as a multidisciplinary field of study, diverse perspectives have been proposed, that has led to lacking of consensus that surrounds the definition, the theoretical underpinnings and the concept implementation (Sharpley, 2009). However, this debate has arguably advanced theoretical understanding of the subject of sustainable tourism; it has rarely been perceived as relevant to practitioners. It has been argued that there existed gaps between the idealism of sustainable tourism as it is conceptualised by academics and the reality of adopting it as a tourism development paradigm of practical use for the tourism sector. Sustainable tourism is useful in guiding all the resources management in a way such that social, economic, and aesthetic requirements can be attained while maintaining biological diversity, cultural integrity, and important ecological processes (UN World Tourism Organisation, 2004). Moreover, tourism can be an effective and efficient tool for the management and conservation of the most protected areas. Additionally, well-managed tourism has the potential of generating the political support and financial required in sustaining the protected areas values. It can as well raise understanding of reserves and their cultural values, environmental, and contribute to enriching tourism experiences. A classic example is, in Australia, that every year about 1.4 million tourism visit Commonwealth terrestrial reserves in order for them to experience culture unique and natural landscapes to Australia. However, these tourist are providing significant support for the conservation of reserves through public support, advocacy recognition, and revenue. Nationally, the nature-based tourism sector is contributing close to $23 billion to the economy in Australia every year. In the year 2009, there were close to 3.3 million international nature tourist to Australia, representing 64 per cent of all the international tourists to Australia (Tourism Research Australia, 2009). However, it is estimated that Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Kakadu National Parks contributed more than $320 million in a year in the Northern Territory to regional economies, with close to 740 jobs that are either directly or even indirectly associated with visiting park (Gillespie Economics and BDA Group, 2008). The integration of sustainability and sustainable tourism principles into the government and the sector’s policy and planning is most significant. In terms of policy and planning use, the Australian Government, at a national and state level, has continued to receive criticism for its economic and marketing focus when it comes to the policy of tourism, which has been at the expense of social and environmental considerations (Ruhanen, 2008). Others have suggested that the neoliberal policies of Australian governments have started to be transcended by alternative development paradigms shifts (Whitford, 2009. Hunter (1997) argued that sustainable tourism can serve as an adaptive paradigm that can effectively address a diverse range of situations. As it is difficult to balance economic returns with preservation of the environment and society, sustainable tourism requires holistic, integrative and long-range planning. 4.1.0 Challenges in Implementation of Sustainability Indeed, the implementation of sustainability, generally, has been challenging, with others suggesting that there is not adequate evidence that the sustainable tourism principles have been fully adopted within the tourism sector (Fredline, Jago, & Day, 2006). For instance, while some organisations have adopted green values for economic returns, it has been challenging to determine those that are genuinely green. One main challenge in the adoption of sustainable tourism is the identification of the most appropriate path for sustainable tourism development. It was noted out that great local-level sustainable tourism and development planning is necessary. It has been pointed that sustainable tourism has had very limited practical use at the local level (Choi & Sirakaya, 2006). In contrast, Murphy and Price (2005) suggested that it can only be effective locally, but that sustainability is not likely to truly exist at a more national or international level. However, sustainability has been complicated to adopt at the local level when environmental conservation has not aligned with what the local community needs and desires. 5.1 Sustainable Tourism in Australia Attaining the aim of sustainable tourism would enhance conceptual understanding of the discourse of sustainable tourism within a planning context and policy including the triple bottom line focus. Therefore, insights into the Australian context can assist to highlight issues and implications for other countries, and they might also help in the determination of the future path for sustainability in the tourism industry. 5.1.2 Case Study: Tracking the Concept of Sustainability in Australian Tourism Policy and Planning Documents The sustainability concept has been evolving in Australian tourism strategic planning documents between the year 2000 and 2011. Sustainability can be observed in the strategies as an individual concept. Precisely, the term sustainable tourism has been cited within the strategies and it can be seen as an overarching theme composed of diverse elements, for example, the society, economy, and environment, concepts that are connecting under the umbrella of sustainable tourism. A study conducted by Moyle et.al, (2013) indicated that the frequency of the application of sustainability as a unique term remained, relatively, unchanged between the year 2000–2005 and the year 2006–2011 strategies, while the focus of the concept remained at about 2% of all concepts that were identified in the strategies (Moyle et.al, 2013). Additionally, between year 2000 and 2005, sustainability as an overarching theme that includes the wider elements of sustainability in addition to the term sustainability raised in frequency from about 16% of all concepts that were applied in the whole documents to almost 17% of the al concepts applied. While the use of the term sustainability did not rise between the period 2000–2005 and 2006–2011, there was a shift within the strategies in terms of the concepts of sustainability. Furthermore, Moyle et.al, (2013) found out that within the same sustainability concepts, between the year 2000–2005 and the year 2006–2011, the conceptual maps analysis revealed that the connectivity of the theme environment dropped from 100% between 2000–2005 strategies to about 64% in the period 2006–2011 strategies, while the climate theme emerged to becoming the most connected concept over the period 2000–2011. However, this indicated that the climate concept has rose in significance when compared to any other concept, for instance, the environmental concept. A further analysis by Moyle et.al, (2013) of the most frequently occurring user-defined concepts in the strategic planning documents of Australian tourism suggested that the sector has shifted away from the concepts of triple bottom line, social, impact, conservation, and change to a focus on natural, climate, adaptation, responsible, and transformation. Themes that did not change in prominence over this period were economy, environmental, nature, innovation, and capacity. Firstly, climate change emerged in the strategies in 2002 in Victoria’s Tourism Industry Strategic Plan between the period 2002–2006, which noted that: Global warming is resulting in climate change, mostly in the semi-arid zone, snowfields, coastal areas and global climate changes can also affect snowfalls in the long run. Moyle et.al, (2013) reported that climate change rose from representing 1% of concepts of sustainability that appeared between the period 2000–2005 documents, to 4% of all the concepts of sustainability that similarly appeared in the year 2006–2011 documents. The sustainability concepts that became more prominent were change, carbon, climate, adaptation, transformation and responsibility while concepts that have decreased in the frequency of occurrence include nature, triple bottom line, and social. In terms of the focus of the triple bottom line concepts across the decade, there were very small changes between 2000–2005 and 2006–2011. In the period 2000–2005, the mix of appearance of these concepts was 28% environment 34%, social, and 38% economic; whilst in the year 2006–2011, the mix was 31% social, 39% economic, and 30% environment (Moyle et.al, 2013). Overall, it appears as if the balancing is still strongly on the aspects of economic of development, with the environment slightly increasing in focus and the social aspects dropping slightly in the occurrence frequency. Truly, sustainable tourism is embedded in the Australian tourism strategic planning documents at all strategic levels and whether there were differences between the different strategic levels in terms of their focus on sustainability. The sustainability theme formed 19% of the concepts that appeared in the local-level plans and strategies, while it represented 15% of the regional level, constituted 18% of the state and formed 15% of the national level strategic planning documents. Sustainability as a unique concept occurred more frequently in the state-level strategies, followed by the regional, local and national-level strategies, respectively. The most commonly applied concepts at the local level were economic and community. At the regional level, the most frequently used concepts were natural and communities. The state level tended to focus mostly on sustainable and natural while the national level was focused on economic and change. It was also found that at the local and regional levels the triple bottom line focus has been on society and community, as well as the economy. At the state level, the triple bottom line focus is on the economy and the environment, while at the national level the triple bottom line focus is overwhelmingly on the economy (Moyle et.al, 2013). 6.1 Conclusion It can be concluded that sustainable tourism has been noted as underpinning policy documents and tourism planning. Similarly, Bramwell & Lane (2012) suggested that it still not clear whether sustainable tourism and sustainability as concepts have had an influence in the private and public tourism sectors. It can also be noted that, as per the study conducted by Moyle et.al (2013), that sustainability as a broad concept is being discussed and the discourse has slightly risen in tourism strategies of Australian government. However, over in the last decade there has been a noticeable shift in the concepts of sustainability. Discourse evolved from social, nature, and triple bottom line concepts, towards focusing on adaption, climate, responsibility, and transformation. Additionally, when sustainability was seen as a theme it was representing 17% of the concepts that had occurred in the strategies as reported by Moyle et.al (2013). Generally, sustainability concepts are embedded in policy documents at all strategic levels, especially at the local level it is more noticeable. However, it was found that policies at the national level made the least application of sustainability concepts. In terms of sustainability balance, the social aspects of sustainability are more prominent at the local level and can be attributed to local governments’ community-centred mandate. In contrast, economic aspects are prominent in the national-level policy, with some evidence of impacts of the tourism and climate change. Perhaps, it is at the regional level where transformation and responsibility are most evident in policy. Finally, the report has confirmed that sustainability concepts are embedded in tourism policy across Australia, for instance in Queensland where the concept is representing a bigger share of the strategic topic. 7.1 Recommendations Indigenous tourism need to be recognised in the Australian National long-term tourism strategy as significant to the competitiveness of the Australian tourism industry’s as well as to economic development for native Australians (Tourism Research Australia, 2010). In order to effectively and efficiently manage tourism sector a sustainable approach to tourism should be considered essential and prioritised and, therefore the traditional owners, tourism industry, government agencies, local communities, and visiting tourist all need to have a part to perform. Additionally, tourism should be managed properly to high-quality, and deliver attractive visitor experiences that provide social, economic, and environmental, benefits. Tourist interpretation and information should be delivered in order to promote appreciation and understanding of the cultural values as well as natural reserves, and the importance for their protection. Moreover, visitor facilities and services need to be managed to a standard of excellence that is reflecting the status of the tourist sites and also takes into account national as well as international benchmarks. Finally, it has been reported that balanced, sustainable development somehow has been failing, with a continued preoccupation with economic development. Others scholars also have been arguing that tourism policies that are based on sustainable tourism seems to be not balanced in triple bottom line focus (Buckley, 2012). However, in order to meet the challenges of creating a balance between social, economic, and environmental values there is need to carry out assessment on whether there is an imbalance within the tourism strategic policy and planning documents in terms of their social, economic, and environmental focus. Murphy & Price (2005) noted that, as it was discussed above, policies at the local level are more effective than national or even in the international-level policies, therefore it is recommended that there is need to give sustainability a greater and wider focus within Australian tourism strategies, mostly at the national level. 8.1 References Bramwell, B., & Lane, B. 2012. Towards Innovation in Sustainable Tourism Research. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 20(1), pp. 1–7. Buckley, R. (2012). Sustainable tourism: Research and Reality. Annuals of Tourism Research, 39(2), 528–546. Choi, H.S.C., & Sirakaya, E. 2006. Sustainability Indicators for Managing Community Tourism. Tourism Management, 27, pp. 274–289. Gillespie Economics and BDA Group 2008. Economic activity of Australia’s World Heritage areas, report to the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. www.emvironment.gov.au/heritage/publications/report/pubs/economic-activity-report, accessed 27th March, 2015. Moyle, D. B et.al. Tracking the Concept of Sustainability in Australia Tourism Policy and Planning Documents. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 22(7), pp. 1037-1051 Tourism Research Australia 2009. Nature Tourism Fact Sheet, http://www.ret.gov.au/tourism, accessed 27th March, 2015. United Nations World Tourism Organisation 2004. Sustainable development of tourism mission statementwww.world-tourism.org/frameset/frame_sustainable.html, accessed 27thMarch, 2015. Tourism Research Australia 2010. Indigenous tourism in Australia: Profi ling the domestic market http://www.ret.gov.au/tourism/, accessed 27th March, 2015 Hunter, C. 1997. Sustainable Tourism as an Adaptive Paradigm. 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