Increasing Aucklands Destination Appeal - Coursework Example

Increasing Auckland’s Destination Appeal Introduction Tourists have certain preferences for the cities they visit and the ability of a tourism destination to attract tourists is highly important. Destinations that have been able to appeal to tourists greatly have managed to increase the economy of their countries through improved and sustained business growth. Cities that do not have great sites or improvements that can lure tourists have failed terribly reporting fewer and fewer tourists every season. Auckland is one of the major tourists’ destinations in the world. It is home to several sites from volcanic sites to cultural and heritage museums to venues that lure sport tourists and those that attract tourists because of shopping. Auckland’s fruitful bid to attract and host tourists with various needs and expectations has made New Zealand benefit greatly in terms of revenue. On the other hand, Buenos Aires is also great tourist destination that attracts a plethora of tourists. In fact, the city ranks higher than Auckland according to tourism assessments done by the World Travel and Tourism Council. The council states that the city ranks as the second most loved city after Italy’s Florence. Buenos Aires is my dream city in terms of tourism cities. This paper compares the two tourism destinations, Auckland and Buenos Aires, by contrasting the myriad pre-modern, modern, and post-modern aspects in each of the destination sites. In addition to that, the paper elucidates the management requirements that can make Auckland achieve Buenos Aires standards. Pre-Modernity Modernity refers to the era before the 1750s where various developments took place in myriad tourist cities all over the world. Most of the tourist destinations that have historical, cultural, and heritage-related sites have rich historical backgrounds. Historical events determine citys tourism appeal. Tourists associate with cities with various historical events and they travel widely to visit the sites. However, enhancements in the historic features also matter greatly as they dictate the popularity of a tourist destination site. An analysis of Auckland as a city shows that its current tourism attraction capacity emanates partly from the richness of the modernity aspects. Auckland’s story goes way back to the 1300s when the Maori people were starting to settle in various places in the country. The people moved into New Zealand because of its richness and fertility and made areas around volcanic peaks their homes. Their population before the Europeans began to settle was over 20,000 people. After the Europeans had visited New Zealand, various changes took place, and the cultural aspects of the Maori people became submerged in the new culture to a certain extent. Nevertheless, the Maori defined tourism greatly, and myriad regions to date depict their rich culture, attracting tourists from different parts of the world (Explorerbus, 2014). During the pre-historic era, the Maori people moved into New Zealand and occupied major regions in Auckland. Their movement and settlement in Auckland has a lot to do with the cultural heritage and cultural tourism that tourists associate Auckland with today. The rich-tourism appealing culture of the Maori largely stemmed from the Polynesians. However, the Maori developed separate tribes from the Polynesians and build villages that were fortified. They majored in fishing, hunting, trading of commodities, weaponry development, art, and farming. A special group of people kept oral history, which served as a means of perpetuating their culture. In the years that followed this period, though, Europeans moved into New Zealand and contributed to the partial dilution of the culture (Explorerbus, 2014). Besides the development of the cultural heritage in Auckland, the formation of volcanoes is also another important aspect of tourism that took place in the 1300s. New Zealand’s Auckland attracts thousands perhaps millions of tourists every year who visit dormant volcanoes and volcanic sites. Today, volcanoes are a mundane feature in Auckland. The volcanoes define the landscape of the city as they exceed 40 in number. The formations of these sites began in the 1300s and were probably witnessed by people. Volcanic vents that led to sites such as the Taupō, as well as many others in the North Island, took place in the prehistoric era. The South Island did not have much activity in terms of volcanoes though (Explorerbus, 2014). Buenos Aires current tourist attractions, just like those in Auckland, have rich connections to the events that took place in the prehistoric era. The city came up as an administrative point in the 1500s as a Spanish colonial government settled and developed structures in it. The Rio de la Plata colonial rule made the same city the capital of Viceroyalty. The region later became the capital of Rio de la Platte’s united provinces after independence. Several developments and structural alignments took place in the city in the prehistoric era amid the fluid relations between the colonial and local powers during the era. The federalists were determined to maintain their dominance while the Unitarians desired to control Buenos and its hinterland. The Unitarians victory elevated Buenos to be the Argentina’s capital. These developments affected the city in terms of the features developed by these prehistoric powers stand as tourist attractions today. A wide range of memorial sites, buildings, and museums contain various things that lure tourists who want to learn about the roots of Buenos and Argentina as a whole (Mato, 2002). Modernity The period between 1750s and 1970s stands as the modernity era, and several development took place that are of importance to tourism. In New Zealand, political events took place that led to the development of Auckland, making it a tourist attraction that it is today. Hobson William, New Zealand’s new governor, signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which prompted him to choose Auckland as his capital. He named the region after Earl of Auckland, George Eden. The leader was given the land that Auckland stands on today by a local Maori leader with the hope that developments would make it a political and commercial hub. In 1841, Auckland became the capital city of New Zealand, and several developments, as well as sustenance of the rich legacy, have made it to be a preference for tourists. Auckland continued to undergo several developments in the 1840s amid the challenges that arose. Political struggles and rebellions in the country prompted British soldiers to move into Auckland to form a defence line. Settlers who included some Catholics also moved into the city and started developing schools. At the same time, rebels kept on forcing their way into the city by breaking in and developing roads. The years that followed saw New Zealand undergo through a lot of developments in terms of transportation systems and towns. Economic growth also played a role in the development of towns and transport systems. Steam engines became popular after the development of the first railway and steam engine in 1863. Wellington and Auckland were the first cities to benefit. Major towns that came up during the 1800s have been preserved and are tourist attraction regions today. The first transport system and trains that featured in the transport system are preserved, and heritage purposes. Much of what happened in the modernity era in Auckland occurred in Buenos Aires. Railway line construction occurred in Australia in the modernity period linking Buenos to the hinterland. The invention of the steam engines followed closely, just like in Auckland’s case. The focus of the development of the railway system in Buenos assisted in facilitating trade between the city and other regions. Wheat, a common product, was unique to Buenos, and differentiated the economic activity in Buenos from that in Auckland. The railway system facilitated in the growth and development of this trade and made Argentina one of the greatest exporters of wheat in the world (Martinez-Carter, 2013). Post Modernity A comparison of Auckland and my dream city, Buenos Aires, shows several variations that make the latter city a preferable destination for tourists. However, Auckland also offers several appeals that lure tourists and the city has improved greatly over the recent past. Auckland’s tourism management has a robust strategy in place and a great vision they hope to achieve by 2021. A postmodernity analysis of the two cities highlights the various amenities and features that differentiate the two cities, and assists in showing what Auckland can do to improve its appeal (Martinez-Carter, 2013). There are various historic sites in both Auckland and Buenos Aires in the postmodern era. In New Zealand, the tourism management through Auckland’s Council has attempted to preserve the rich heritage. The management maintains historical heritage that is not preserved in any other part of the world. Auckland puts a lot of pressure on historic heritage places due to its unprecedented growth as an attraction site. Some of the historical heritages in Auckland include archaeological museums and sites that evidence the presence of the Maori and the Europeans who settled shortly afterwards, significant places associated with the Maori, buildings, plantings, maritime heritage, and intangible places. Additionally, the city maintains and updates its war artefacts in Auckland War Memorial. Argentina’s Buenos Aires is also a huge centre that attracts tourists because of its historical heritage. Buenos’ advantage in terms of historical heritage emanates from the support that the tourism sector accords to sites, buildings, and features. The tourism sector classifies historical sites as national monuments and uses a national decree to classify them. This has encouraged greater maintenance and protection of various historic features in various monuments. Tourists are greatly attracted by over 400 historic buildings all over the country. Most of the preserved buildings are pre-Hispanic and buildings that were built during the colonial era. Just like in Auckland, Buenos’ museums preserve the history of the country’s struggle through the military (Martinez-Carter, 2013). However, as opposed to Auckland, Buenos adds an edge to its tourism by enlisting immigrant and industrial heritage in its museums. The tourism industry continues to grow with the increasing pressure from the national tourism strategy. Auckland hosts several regions that offer tourists a cultural experience of New Zealand. Parnell Village is one such area that depicts the cultural heritage of the region. However, the area does not give visitors a full measure of great experience because the Auckland Council has partially slacked when it comes to offering maintenance. As a result, the otherwise great cultural site has reduced to a mere street of cultural heritage. Tours to memorial sites such as Auckland War Memorial Museum and Rotorua offers tourists great insight into the cultural heritage of New Zealand. However, cultural sites and region require replenishing of material in order to give a complete overview of the cultural heritage and remain competitive. Cultural heritage sites in the city are also facing stiff competition from modern tourism attractions that are diverting tourists from them. In Buenos, cultural heritage is also considered an important area in the tourism sector. The beautiful dream city is host to memorial sites such as Parque de la Memoria, which commemorates victims of the military rule that was in power during the 70s and 80s. The region is especially famous to local tourists as it offers them an emotional link with the heroes and victims whose names are inscribed in the graves. The cultural heritage in the city is also supported by the milonga’s tango as well as countryside rhythms, which appeal to tourists greatly. Music has become highly famous in the city and Tango courts multiply because of their appeal to clients (Martinez-Carter, 2013). Art is a great way of preserving culture, and it attracts both scholars and tourists. The emphasis given to art in Buenos differs from the attention that Auckland accords the area of cultural preservation. The Auckland Art Gallery of Toiotamaki and Auckland fine art society promote culture and relay it through art pieces. The latter also stands as an educational region offering courses that ensure students appreciate art. A scenery such as Mount Eden, a vivacious attraction, combines culture and nature. The site is also complemented by Hawke’s Bay, but the cultural expression in both does not match the emphasis that Buenos gives to cultural expression and preservation. In Buenos, MALBA museum subsumes popular works of artists in Argentina. The museum also exhibits a myriad of photographs, sculptures, installation works, and films that promote cultural heritage. The films stocked by the museum appeal to tourists greatly as they combine both modernity and postmodernity aspects. Additionally, Buenos also flaunts its culture through the National Museum of fine arts, which subsumes medieval international works and collections from the twentieth century (Martinez-Carter, 2013). In the postmodern era, sport tourism has become common. Auckland’s tourism industry is well positioned to attract sport tourists. New Zealand has worked hard towards improving its sports facilities. The sector has concentrated on Rugby over the recent years, and the sport tourism received even further motivation from the opportunity to host Rugby World Cup in 2011. As a result, Auckland’s appeal to sport tourists increased and the sector got the motivation to improve facilities. Other areas of sport tourism that are slowing becoming popular in Auckland’s tourism sector include snow sport and soccer. Amazing stadiums such as Westpac have come up due to the increasing demand by tourists while indoor sites such as snow planet are also gaining popularity because of weather disruptions and their general beauty. Although Buenos Aires is not particularly famous for rugby, its appeal to sport tourists is higher than that of Auckland because it has concentrated in football or soccer. Buenos Aires Futbol Amigos (FC BAFA) is one of the upcoming and highly appealing places where the focus is on the nation’s most celebrated sport. What is more, the tourist attraction goes further that just offering tourists the opportunity to view players in action, as the management organizes 5-aside matches where interested parties can participate. The matches are also graded, and they vary according to the prowess of the tourists. Learners join beginners’ matches while experienced players take part in matches known as seasoned-pro. The fun is further intensified by the integration of other social events and provision of meals and drinks. In general, tourists have always had a surreal experience, and they want to come back. This has highly increased the quality of tourism, and the competitive edge of the sector compared to other regions of countries. Water activities are popular in both Auckland as well as Buenos Aires. However, the quality varies, and tourists have a preference for beaches and swimming spots that offer the best services. In addition to that, water activities depend on the availability and quality of other features such as amenities. Postmodern beaches in Argentina are common in coastline towns that are near Buenos such as Mar del Plata or sea of the plate are in English. The region experienced population upsurges every so often because of its popularity to tourists from all parts of the world. With around thirty miles of exhilarating coastlines, the city offers tourists ample space for water activities through its plethora of beaches. Tourists visit different beaches depending on who they are and the company they have. For instance, college students have their sections while family friendly beaches are also in existence. Bristol, Playa Varresse, and La Perla beach are some but of the few beaches that tourists frequently flock (Martinez-Carter, 2013). Auckland, on the other hand, offers a wide range of beaches from golden bays with shelters to wild sand beaches for surfing. Tourists enjoy services in these beaches especially if they want to enjoy myriad water sports, soak up their views, or simply unwind. Water activities that take place in Auckland include kayaking, surfing, snorkelling, diving, and swimming. In addition to that, some tourists simply go to beaches to relax at the sand. However, Auckland’s beaches require some improvements to assure clients of safety along the coastline. The Auckland Council currently offers beach safety advice as they gear their development activities to make the beaches friendly to every tourist including children (Buhalis and Darcy, 2012). In addition to the above comparison, Buenos is incorporating innovation and creativity in its tourism industry hence offering a modern and exciting experience to tourists. The dream city’s Fuerza Bruta offers theatrical experience like no other that floods tourists’ senses. The event has become highly popular to tourists as it appeals to their imagination leaving reality to take a back seat. Buenos is also home to one of the best theatres world over – The Teatro Colon. Tourists acknowledge it for its artistic value in architecture and the acoustics. Importantly, the tourism management ensures proper maintenance of the theatre making Buenos remains one of the best tourist destinations known (Martinez-Carter, 2013). Management Considerations Environment Tourism in any region depends deeply on the quality of the cities’ environment. Therefore, tourism councils and management teams need to take a concerted effort to ensure that the image of cities where tourism sites are maintained is pure and attractive. Auckland needs to put a strategy that ensures its environment is appealing to tourists. Buenos is a perfect example as it has ensured that its tourism sector has balanced in terms of investment. While cultural and historical sites are important and require great maintenance, inclusion of modernity, innovativeness, and creativity is essential. Aspects of creativity and modernity must be included in tourist attraction sites and cities to lure tourists from other regions (Mullan, 2009). Market-led Campaigns Another factor that Auckland should factor in strongly in its tourism promotion strategy is marketing. Auckland can increase its appeal to tourists through developing marketing campaigns that are market-led. Market-let campaigns mean that the tourism management needs to shape its organization and programs, and then concentrate on generating clients for it (Chon, 2013). The right approach, energy, and persuasion will enable Auckland Council to develop products that engage consumers to the right extent. It is also essential to develop marketing strategies that prioritize marketing to ensure that the sector captures tier 1, tier 2, and emerging markets appropriately (Mullan, 2009). City Brands Modern economy is increasingly becoming city state’s economy, and thus city brands are rapidly dominating marketing landscapes. Auckland can be able to exploit its city brand more effectively than it is doing at the moment. The best way the tourism destination city can exploit its brand is by linking the past, present, and the things to come. For instance, Seoul’s tourism industry aims at developing its brand by linking traditions and future aspirations through festivals. Using festivals and other major events is a popular strategy for city branding. Events raise the international awareness, support, and collaboration, which put destinations on the world stage (Hill, 2014). Partnerships Development of key infrastructure in the tourism industry requires sufficient funding. Auckland’s tourism council will achieve its ambitions to become a dream city through partnering with organizations and the government for funding. Currently, the government is funding a development project at Auckland Airport. The government is also funding and assisting in the improvement of key private sectors such as Bachcare Ltd, which is a home rental company, and NZ Ski Ltd, which is a services platform for guests. Auckland is targeting Chinese visitors and funding Orange Productions, which is focused on developing business and great experience for the Chinese visitors, is an important step. In addition to that, Auckland will become more popular to consumers once the council develops swift supply chains by linking with the transport industry. This includes the development of partnerships with airline companies to develop flight plans that ferry clients to Auckland directly and developing a Memorandum of Understandings with accommodation companies such as hotels (Hill, 2014). Conclusion Auckland is a great destination for tourists, as it has several sceneries and features that appeal to tourists. However, Buenos Aires stands as a more preferable destination, and it receives a lot of visitors as compared to Auckland. Comparing the various features and amenities in the two cities shows that the two cities are almost the same except that Buenos has focused more on developing its sector. Auckland can improve its standards and appeal by focusing on the environment, market-led campaigns that prioritize markets, developing a more robust city brand, and creating essential partnerships. References Buhalis, D., & Darcy, S. (2012). Best Practice in Accessible Tourism. Channel View Publications. Chon, K. S. (2013). Geography and Tourism Marketing. Routledge. Cunningham, B. (2012). International Visitors Drawn by Auckland Tourism’s Sport City status. Retrieved April 1, 2014, from http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/international-visitors-drawn-auckland-tourisms-sport-city-bc Explorerbus. (2014). Auckland Hop on Hop off Explorer. Retrieved April 8, 2014, from http://www.explorerbus.co.nz/ Hill, J. (2014). Auckland Tourism, Events, and Economic Development. Auckland Council. Martinez-Carter, K (2013, March 14). Preserving history in Buenos Aires. BBC Travel. Retrieved May 21, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20130226-preserving-history-in-buenos-aires Mato, O. (2002). City of angels: the history of Recoleta Cemetery: a guide to its treasures. Buenos Aires: O. LópezMato. Mullan, R. (2009). Urban Environmental Management Approaches by Tourism Organisations in Wellington, New Zealand, (April), 1–24. Read More