Sydney as a Tourist Destination - Essay Example

Challenges Facing Destination Managers at Sydney for the Infrastructure of the Place Introduction: Destinations are places that tourists loveto visit. With the help of marketing strategies, tourist destinations try to attract greater number of tourists. However it is necessary that the tourist location provides its visitors with attractive places to visit, accompanied with proper accommodation and transport facilities, as well as successful integration of the developments in the location into different variations occurring at the destination (Howie, 2003, p.73). The marketability of any particular tourist destination largely depends on the perceptions of different market areas. Such perceptions may be varied in nature. Huge investments are made on a regular basis by several countries to make a destination successfully available to the tourists (Beirman, 2003, pp.3-4). A country, trying to provide its tourists with different facilities, also has to encounter several challenges associated with the facilities and services. With the growing competition in the industry, the complexities have increased to great extents leading to greater problems with tourist destinations (Bramwell & Lane, 2004, p.78). The present study has considered Sydney as the tourism destination for study and discusses about the challenges encountered by the destination managers in the city. Sydney is the oldest, largest and the most popular city in the country of Australia. Both business and arts of the country are mostly delivered by this city. It is one of the most attractive places in the world delivering scenic beauty, geographical locations of waters as well as leisure activities. There are mountains as well as seas, along with several inland waterways and national parks (Sydney- General Information, n.d.). Sydney as a Tourist Destination: Sydney presents several places to visit for the tourists thus attracting visitors from across the world. Australia’s diverse wildlife, the galleries representing art, Sydney Opera House delivering beautiful performances and convict heritage site are all listed in the World Heritage list. Visitors can spend several hours at these places. The places also offer meals and leisure activities for the visitors. There are thrilling experiences for the kids as well delivered by places like the Taronga Zoo or Featherdale Widlife Park. Other tourist attractions that are of significant attractions include Luna Park, a fun-packed, harbourside amusement park and Sydney Tower Eye. The Sydney Tower is the uppermost spot above Sydney consisting several views of the harbour, beaches as well as the Blue Mountains (Sydney Attraction, n.d.). The Blue Mountains Region in Sydney has in the recent years attracted the most numbers of visitors. It has proved to be a place for immense recreation and relaxation. In the 1990s, the area had lacked its image particularly owing to the iconic natural and built assets. Later there have been several initiatives to improve the region and in the present times, the region drags “a large share of the tourism market” (Blue Mountains Regional Tourism Plan 2004-2007, n.d.). A tourism plan is also involved in this regard that has been consulted with several stakeholders. The target markets have also been segmented accordingly and these include the luxury travelers, the adventure travelers, the touring travelers, the peer group travelers as well as the family travelers. Both domestic and international visitors are targeted in this regard with the international countries including UK, Germany and USA. The experiences of the nature, the heritage, the arts and culture, and the indulgence and rejuvenation have been the major appeals of this region (Blue Mountains Regional Tourism Plan 2004-2007, n.d.). Competitors of Sydney in the tourism market include other Australian cities like Melbourne, as well as other regional competitors like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur. This competition has led to a need for Sydney to market and promote their tourism in the industry (Kangaroos and cliches stifling Australian tourism, says Packer, 2011). The natural attractions of the city include Lane Cove National Park having facilities for picnic and walks along with a wildlife shelter to watch as well; Ku-ring-gai Chase and Brisbane Waters National Park allowing visitors for boating apart from walks, drives and picnic; Sydney Harbour National Park; Balls Head Reserve that makes the Sydney Harbour Bridge visible along with the delivery of peace and harmony of the bush land; Bouddi National Park presenting beautiful beaches; Jervis Bay where dolphin watching makes it attractive; Royal National Park; Blue Mountains with blue and stunning view of the hills; Heathcote National Park; and Wollemi National Park (Sydney- Natural Attractions, n.d.). There are several cultural attractions in the city as well that include arts, galleries and museums along with the opera house. These include the Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Opera House, Susannah Place Museum, Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Circular Quay, and Parramatta (Cultural attractions & museums in Sydney: 7 things to do found, 2010). Numerous events, festivals and activities are continuously being held in the city that include Twilight Concert in Park Series, South Sydney Volunteer Expo, Polish Film Festival, Cruelty Free Festival, Balmain Art and Craft Show, Newtown Festival, Ocean Care Day Festival, to name a few (Sydney Festivals and Events, 2012). As far as infrastructure is concerned, Sydney tourism has been found to lack the desired infrastructure over the last ten years. This even hampered the capitalization of Olympic Games in the city (Korporaal, 2010). Business tourism of the city brings to the city huge income each year, creating numerous job opportunities as well as enhancing the multicultural influences enjoyed by people in the city. The entry of delegates of most important events of business to Sydney for international and national meetings, consultations, congresses, conferences, expositions and tradeshows proves to be highly important for the financial and social status of the country (Business event hosting - benefits to Sydney , n.d.). Infrastructure Challenges for Tourism in Sydney: Considering the issues regarding infrastructure for tourism, studies reveal that there is a remarkable need of improvement in Australia as a whole trying to restore its hotels and boost the standards of services delivered to the visitors. This has become particularly of more concern since there are greater numbers of Chinese visitors in the country and such visits are expected to increase further in the coming years. Infrastructure issues have been found to be raised with the second airport of Sydney that according to Federal Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson “has been put in the too hard basket” (Saurine, 2012). Infrastructure is considered as the most important factor in the city. Thus the challenges of infrastructure are a major concern of the infrastructure managers in the city. Sydney is considered as the Global City of Australia. Thus the objectives of the city in regard to improving infrastructure include Improving public transport access to and through the CBD and adjoining centers, Increasing the number of people living in areas accessible to Global Sydney, and Providing an attractive urban environment conducive for knowledge-based business and the visitor economy (Global Sydney, n.d., p.50). The social infrastructure of the city has always been very powerful in increasing the economic strength of Sydney. Based on some major statistical studies, it has been obtained that Sydney Airport needs to tackle more than 100,000 airline passengers every day, that might come up to around 40 million passengers every year. This is supported by around 16,000 workers of the airport and tens of thousands of other helpers. The infrastructure facilities are considered highly important for New South Wales since these lead to associations between producers and businessmen that occur in the city and the regions around. Thus the infrastructure of Sydney has a significant role to play in the success of New South Wales as well as Australia as a whole (Global Sydney, n.d., p.48). The population of the city seems to increase every day and most of these people make their travels and journeys through the public transport. If there are limitations in the areas of parking, then that would mean that there would be requirements for greater numbers of public transport facilities for the commuters, that include trains and buses as well as ferry transports. If the facilities of the rail system are considered, it is obtained that the system proves to be slow and unreliable as far as their services are concerned, with the congestion problems rising daily. Moreover there are greater demands on certain particular stations that increase the difficulties or the challenges for the system. The problems of congestion are also found in the routes of buses. Buses encounter problems when they have to make ways through overcrowded streets and roads. Considering these problems and challenges, infrastructure strategies are tried to build by the authorities and management of the city. Supporting the growth of the international gateways is also a major concern for the city in the present times (Global Sydney, n.d., pp.50-51). Learning about the conditions of the railways as well as bus services, it can be said that the infrastructure is not strong enough to serve the visitors with ease and benefits. Rather the problems arising with the services reflect challenges for the destination managers since they are the ones who would need to handle the situations. It is their responsibility to take care of the experiences of the visitors that may be affected by the poor infrastructure facilities. If infrastructures are poor, the destination may lose on their visitors that are needed to be taken significant concern of by the destination managers thus increasing their challenges and responsibilities. In discussing about the infrastructure facilities in the city, the hotel industry of the city can also be discussed. As far as the hotel industry in Sydney is concerned, studies reveal that the hotel market in the city is the largest in Australia and the performance of the industry has been well. However the availability of the hotel rooms or the supply of the rooms in the recent years has been limited. This has been attributed to the real growth of the country being limited. Moreover, Sydney is generally priced lower than it’s actual worth thus requiring the need to raise the prices to afford sufficient incentive to generate future investment. The expansion of the industry is encountered with three major issues or challenges. These include (Creating a Long Term Future for The Sydney Hotel Industry, 2012, pp. 2-8): Demand: Making sure that the number of visitors to Sydney and the days of their stay in the city can be increased with the help of strong marketing as well as expansion of events and conventions. Infrastructure and Product: This reflects that a speculation in catalytic infrastructure, that includes convention centre, cruise ship terminal, iconic attractions and transportation infrastructure, is necessary to increase demand and growth in the visitors in the long term. Supply: There is a need to guarantee that new rooms in the hotels can be developed in Sydney in a reliable, cost-effective and sustainable method. Analysis of Sydney as a Tourist Destination: As far as Sydney as a tourist destination is concerned, it can be said that the location presents numerous sightseeing place in the city for the visitors to be attracted to. The wildlife and the national parks, the opera houses, as well as the different events, festivals and activities make the city a place of enjoyment, recreation and relaxation. However an increasing rate of the dollar in the country of Australia along with the global recession has made the city too expensive for the visitors from the UK and the US that has also reduced the rates of visitors to some extents (City Travel Briefing- Sydney, 2011). Moreover the issues concerning the infrastructure in the city can be said to have a negative influence on the tourism of the city. The roads and railway systems in the city reflect severe problems of congestion as mentioned earlier. Moreover the accommodations in the hotels are limited. Thus it can be understood that with such limited facilities being available in the city, the tourists would not be satisfied and hence Sydney might lose their visitors as far as tourism is concerned for the destination. The infrastructure in Sydney includes public transport facilities and road services that are provided to the residents as well as visitors of the city. The Sydney City Council is in charge of the maintenance of roads and their cleanliness. There are different branches of the council across the city attending different parts of the city. One of the major metropolitan areas of the city is the region of New South Wales. There are broad roadways and bridges for the rapid movement between different parts of the city across this area. All types of transportation are provided within the city for the commuters that includes private vehicles, taxis, interstate services of coach to buses, railways, airplanes as well as waterways. The major bridges in the city include Alfords Point Bridge, New South Wales; ANZAC Bridge; Fullers Bridge; De Burgh's Bridge; Captain Cook Bridge, New South Wales; Fig Tree Bridge; Sydney Harbour Bridge; Gladesville Bridge; Iron Cove Bridge, New South Wales; Victoria Bridge (Penrith); Pyrmont Bridge; Lennox Bridge, Parramatta; Roseville Bridge; Victoria Bridge (Penrith); Spit Bridge; Tarban Creek Bridge; Ryde Bridge; and Tom Uglys Bridge (Infrastructure of Sydney, 2011). It can thus be said that although Sydney is encountered with challenges and issues with respect to infrastructure, particularly in regard to tourism facilities provided to visitors, the city also tries to provide its commuters and visitors with several facilities as mentioned in the study. This reflects on the need for improvement in the area of problems such that the visitors do not face any difficulty with accommodations in hotels or travelling across the city while they come for a visit to the city. Impacts of Tourism: While tourism creates recreation and relaxation for visitors, there are positive and negative impacts of tourism as well. The positive impacts include job opportunities for people, increasing income in the local economy, helps to preserve rural services that include buses, village shops, and post offices, increase in demand for food and crafts in the local areas, and the scenery and wildlife that tourists are mostly attracted to, thereby creating pressure to save habitats and wildlife. The negative impacts of tourism include damages to landscapes like waste corrosion, fires, trouble to livestock, sabotage, congestion in traffic and pollution, the costs of local goods tend to rise since visitors would be ready to pay more, products are stocked by shops for tourists affecting the stocks of regular goods required by local residents, demand for holiday homes makes accommodation too costly for local people, demand rises for expansion of more shops and hotels, and jobs provided by tourism facilities are largely seasonal, low paid with long hours (The Impacts of Tourism, n.d.). Sydney, situated on the coast of New South Wales, has an astonishing scene and locality offering opportunities for such site seeing that is completely different from the rest of the world. Whale watching, the Sydney Opera House, world-class events, and a multi-ethnic savor are only a few of the incredible features of Sydney. The national parks and wildlife attract visitors to the most extents. Natural Beauty is targeted by the tourism campaigns of the government. These campaigns also try to obtain the beautiful obtainable outdoor living, and locations in the harbor side. These have been considered to be admirable choices to focus for the purpose of tourism, and these are found to be effective ways to fetch visitors from the rest of the world. However, it has also been obtained that there needs to be a superior consideration of the reasons that Sydney located apart from any other place. A little more concern needs to be taken to find out why the place may prove to be difficult for stay of the visitors (What Everybody Ought to Know About Sydney Tourism, 2010). There is a need for the tourism sector to become accustomed to changing needs of travelers, in spite of changes in the economy. “Sydney and other cities in Australia are long-haul destinations for tourists and travellers coming from other countries and continents” (What Everybody Ought to Know About Sydney Tourism, 2010). If consumers are enthusiastic pay in order to come so far to visit the place, they must be considering the place to be worthwhile to watch something impressive or “to have a place to shed the stress of life in beautiful surroundings. Sydney has the best of both worlds to offer travellers to the country, and tourism boards, as well as those in the tourism industry, should take note” (What Everybody Ought to Know About Sydney Tourism, 2010). Role of Marketing in Destination Development: In the present times, there is lack of funding from the government as well that increase the challenges of the destination managers. With the growing competitions, the use of technology and advancements has also increased that requires significant funding to be incorporated and sustained (Dombey, 2003). Changes and improvements are needed in the locations in terms of infrastructures as well. Owing to poor infrastructure in the city, crises occur in the destinations for the visitors too that create challenges for the destination managers. Such challenges are also influenced by the global economic condition that gets affected due to downturn (Fyall, n.d., pp.7-9). Thus it can be understood that with several challenges and issues related to infrastructure in the city, the destination managers are supposed to encounter various difficulties in handling these issues. Hence the developments and improvements in the destination need to be planned strategically. In Sydney, the city follows the Sydney Tourism Precinct Toolkit that has been planned and designed by the tourism department of New South Wales with the purpose of assisting the city councils as well as business groups across the city. This enables development, marketing and promotion of the precincts of the city. This plan helps attracting greater number of visitors to the place where the city will e able to provide them with unique features and places to visit and enjoy (Sydney Tourism Precinct Toolkit, n.d.). The government of New South Wales (NSW) created Destination NSW (DNSW) as a constitutional right in July 2011 to hold up development in the state’s tourism and events sector. The functions of four organizations that include Tourism NSW, Events NSW, the Homebush Motor Racing Authority and the Greater Sydney Partnership were included into the new body of the state. DNSW is in charge of working out and putting into practice the planned strategies (Destination NSW About Us, n.d.). Conclusion: From the above study it can be concluded that Sydney being a place of immense variety of places to visit as well as of different activities, events and festivals, the city attracts numerous visitors every year. However in the recent years even though the city has the facilities for the visitors and the commuters, yet there are limitations in the hotel accommodations as well as issues like congestion in roads, railways and waterways causing negative impressions on the city. This reflects on the poor facilities of the infrastructure in the city that eventually leads to significant challenges for the destination managers in the city. Since the role of the destination managers involve providing the visitors with attractive places as well as facilities that can serve them the best during their visit, hence poor infrastructure proves to create significant challenge for the destination managers that are required to be handled with utmost planning, funding and marketing strategies. 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