Selling Australia: The Changes in Australian Tourism Since 1900 - Literature review Example

Running Head: CHANGES IN AUSTRALIAN TOURISM Selling Australia: The Changes in Australian Tourism Since 1900 Name: Grade Course: Tutor’s Name: 6th, October, 2009 Introduction “Leisure activities were only left for the rich” Is that the case now? 1770! There were no signs of visitors in Australia. The Aboriginal people owned the land of Australia. Come 2009, two centuries after, the place belongs to the foreigners and the owners act as a source of income to their land for the foreigners. What changes really took place? In most cases when the Aboriginals are mentioned, what comes to peoples mind is colonization. This time round it is not colonization but the changes that have been experienced in Australian since 1900 in the tourism industry (R.I.C., 2004 p.98). From 1900, tourism started catering for middle class as well as international tourists. Before 1900, the tourism industry was not as developed as it is today. Only the wealthy took advantage of various leisure activities (Interactive Schooling, 2009). Domestic tourism increased in 1940 when people of Australia were granted a one week holiday. This holiday was extended to three weeks giving people more time to go for holidays (Interactive Schooling, 2009). It also received a boost in 1972 when the four week holiday was introduced (White, 2005 p. 148). The Tourists Before 1900, tourists were very few and may not have been even recognized as tourists. There were no international tourists except for the explorers who came to Australia and those who came for exhibitions in Australia. The explorers contributed to the tourism of today by their discoveries. They made other people explore Australia and found out the beauty the country had. The beauty of the coastal regions attracted most people and this led to the discovery of other important tourist attractions that are today used to attract people to different places in Australia (Butler, 2006 p. 257). Although the Capital cities also attracted visitors for example, 1 million attended the Sydney Great Exhibition in 1879, 1.3 million at the Melbourne Exhibition in 1880, and 2 million at another Melbourne Exhibition in 1888 (Interactive Schooling, 2009), beach culture became commercialized after World War 2 and surfing became popular around 1956 when American competitors came surfing during the Olympics (Tourism Victoria, 2009). Before 1900, there were no business men coming to Australia as tourists as they do currently. The kind of trading those days had not developed to a level where business men are required to meet and hold conferences in certain countries. Because of the developments in business, businessmen choose to meet in large tourist hotels where they can also enjoy the scene of the beautiful attractions. One reason why Australia had no international visitors was the distance and lack of transport. After development of roads and the introduction of airlines, Australia became Accessible and more international visitors started visiting the country (Snape et al, 1998 p. 272). Currently, the country receives up to 5.6 million international visitors (Tourism Australia, 2008; Tourism Australia, 2009) with international airlines from various countries (Weiermair & Mathies, 2004 p. 287). Changes Due to Transport In the 1900s, the transport system that was available was rail and a few roads. At the beginning of the twentieth century, very few roads were available and the main transport system through which international tourists could access Australia was by sea transport. As time went by, new roads were constructed and the available transport systems improved. Travelling by air was also introduced. Improved transport system changed the tourism industry encouraging more people to come to Australia and more holiday makers to travel to various parts of Australia for holidays (Tourism Victoria, 2009). The importance of tourism began to be realised in the twentieth century. No roads or good means of transport were available in Australia by then. The local councils of Australian regions realised the importance of both domestic tourism and international visitors coming to visit Australia and requested for funds to develop roads in their areas hence making the areas accessible. Roads were constructed which encouraged people to visit coastal areas which were the main attraction sites during those times. This however changed with the identification of other attraction sites and activities. As more people spared time for holidays and more visitors came to Australia, more attraction sites were identified based on what people liked (Woods, 1865). After realisation that international visitors could contribute more to Australian income, A states body was formed to govern and make improvements in the tourism industry. The Australian Tourism Commission was formed in 1926 (Snape et al, 1998 p. 310).The government has since been involved in the tourism industry (Tourism Australia, 2009) and has seen so many changes in the industry. Even the type of travel arrangements has changed with the industry having both package and non package travel arrangements. Non package however takes a large percentage currently (Tourism Australia, 2005). Changes Due to Improved Technology Changes due to improved Technology system at the beginning of the twentieth century when compared to the communication systems and improved technology systems of the current century show a great difference. Holiday makers became aware of various tourist attraction sites through information obtained from explorers. Since1900 communication systems improved and tourists could be reached through advertisements. By 1996 things had changed and the communication systems had developed into online advertisements (Globalization SMEs and TD, 2009; Wahab &Cooper, 2001; Tourism Australia, 2005). Changes in Marketing Tourism in Australia had no advertisements at the beginning. As people became more aware of tourism and attractive areas that they could visit, the government began advertising. In 1900, the advertisements could not be regarded as formal since they were just passage of information about a great place where holiday makers could visit. As time passed and more people developed interest in travelling for leisure and making holidays for leisure, formal advertisements arose. This was after some leaders of the Australian government realised that the Australians visited certain parts of Australia for leisure and that visitors expressed interest in certain regions of Australia. The importance of international visitors contributed to advertising Australia as a tourist attraction country. Advertisements of today describe very many details including places to be visited, banking hours, business hours, Australian etiquette and several other things. All these are described in one document (E-guide Pty Ltd, 2008). Additionally, tourism of today is not just advertised in magazines and newspapers or leaflets. It is advertised even on the internet. Since 1900, tourism has become a large industry contributing a large percentage of Australia’s revenues (Globalization SMEs and TD, 2009). In 2003-2004, the industry contributed a total of $32 billion to the Australia’s gross domestic product (Globalization SMEs and TD, 2009). Changes in Accommodation After the discovery of holidaying at the beach, accommodation facilities were made available. There were coffee palaces, guest houses and hotels for those who could not afford their own summer retreats. This changed in the twentieth century when camping began to offer a cheaper way of getting close to nature and enjoying holidays at the Australian beaches (Jetties & Piers, 2009). Tourists could now use hotels, coffee palaces, guest houses or they could use caravans and tents. Sites that had camping sites such as Dromana and Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula and Anglesea, Torquay and Lorne on the west coast began to attract more campers (Jetties & Piers, 2009). More Tourist Attraction Sites and Activities Several things were developed in the twentieth century. In the twenty first century, a lot had been done and it is more of attracting tourists to get more revenue than to find out new attraction sites or develop tourism attraction sites and facilities. With the introduction of one week holiday per year followed by three weeks then four, more people started visiting beaches and their activities turned to be the commonly known tourist activities of today (Jetties & Piers, 2009). The first class people never went to the beaches with the knowledge of promoting tourism. The beginning of the twentieth century had the coastal beaches as the main attraction sites with sea bathing and camping as the main activities that the tourists could engage in. More activities at the beach and more people led to the discovery of other sites that could interest tourists. A very good example is the identification of Blue Mountains (Jupp, 2001). Camping increased in popularity making the discoveries of other things that people could do. This popularity came at a time when motor cars were also widely used between World War I and World War II. With improved roads from 1913s as well, more places in Australia were accessible increasing the number of tourist attraction sites (Jetties & Piers, 2009). A country Roads Board was even formed in 1913 to improve the poor conditions of the roads (Jupp, 2001). The construction of great Ocean road for example began in 1918 and extended to up to Apollo Bay by 1932.Otway Ranges and Gippsland roads were also improved. The road leading to Apollo Bay for example, led to the discovery of Wye River, Lorne, Kennett River and Apollo Bay as tourist attraction spots (Jetties & Piers, 2009). Conclusion Improved technology and infrastructure are the main factors that have created change in the Australian Tourism. Development of roads led to access to more areas prompting the government to encourage domestic tourism, development of airlines led to more visitors in the country and development of the railway system also led to access to so many tourist attraction sites. Technology has improved the advertisements made so that information can reach so many people, it has improved the transport systems making them faster hence giving more people a chance to visit Australia and it has also made tourism business operations easier through online advertisements, bookings and reservations. Tourism in 1800s compared to tourism from 1900 to date shows a great change. Reference List Butler, R. (2006). The Tourism Area Life Cycle. Clevedon, UK: Channel View Publications. Eguide Pty Ltd. (2008). Australia E-guide “the definitive Australian travel guide. Eguide http://www.traveleguides.com/travel-guides/australia-travel-guide.pdf Globalization, SMES and Tourism Development (Globalization SMEs and TD): Case Study: Enhancing the Role of Australian SMEs in Global Value Chains. (2009). Retrieved on 5th October, 2009 from: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/44/13/40122319.pdf Interactive Schooling. (2009). Life in Australia at the Turn of the Century: Life for the Middle and Upper Classes. Retrieved on 4th October, 2009 from: http://www.skwirk.com.au/p-c_s-14_u-127_t-348_c-1205/life-for-the-middle-and-upper-classes/nsw/life-for-the-middle-and-upper-classes/australia-to-1914/life-in-australia-at-the-turn-of-the-century Jetties & Piers. (2009). At the beach: using the sea for recreation: Early Twentieth Century Developments. A background History of Maritime Infrastructure in Victoria. Thematic History of Maritime Infrastructure. Retrieved on 4th, Oct, 2009 from: http://www.heritage.vic.gov.au/admin/file/content2/c7/Jetties%20ONL%20Part%202%20Chp%206_End.pdf Jupp, J. (2001). The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, its People and Their Origins. 2nd Ed. England, UK: Cambridge University Press. R.I.C. Publications. (2004). Primary Society and Environment. Balcatta, WA: R.I.C. Publications. Snape, H. R., Gropp, L and Luttrell, T. (1998). Australian Trade Policy 1965-1997: A Documentary History: Establishment of the Australian Tourism Commission. Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin. Tourism Australia. (2008). Essentials. Retrieved on 4th October, 2009 from: http://www.tourism.australia.com/printpage01.asp?u=%2FNewsCentre.asp&p=newscentre.asp&s=0285&a=2930 Tourism Australia. (2005). Inbound tourism trends Year ended 30 December 2004 http://www.tourism.australia.com/content/Research/ivs/ivs_tourismtrendsreport_dec04.pdf Tourism Australia. (2009). Visitor Arrival Data. Retrieved on 4th October, 2009 from: http://www.tourism.australia.com/Research.asp?sub=0318&al=2906 Tourism Victoria. (2009). Tourism: Leaders or Followers? Retrieved on 5th, Oct, 2009 from: http://www.tourismexcellence.com.au/module6/index.php?page=leadingorfollowing Wahab, S and Cooper, C. P. (2001). Tourism in the Age of Globalization. Toronto, Canada: Routledge. Weiermair, K. and Mathies, C. (2004). The Tourism and Leisure Industry: Shaping the Future. New York, US: Routledge. White, R. (2005). On Holidays: A History of Getting Away in Australia. N. S. W, Australia: Pluto Press Australia. Woods, J. E. T. (1865). A History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia: or, an Account of the Progress of Geographical Discovery in that Continent, from the Earliest Period to the Present day. London, UK: Sampson Law, Son, and Marston. Read More

Because of the developments in business, businessmen choose to meet in large tourist hotels where they can also enjoy the scene of the beautiful attractions. One reason why Australia had no international visitors was the distance and lack of transport. After development of roads and the introduction of airlines, Australia became Accessible and more international visitors started visiting the country (Snape et al, 1998 p. 272). Currently, the country receives up to 5.6 million international visitors (Tourism Australia, 2008; Tourism Australia, 2009) with international airlines from various countries (Weiermair & Mathies, 2004 p. 287). Changes Due to Transport In the 1900s, the transport system that was available was rail and a few roads.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, very few roads were available and the main transport system through which international tourists could access Australia was by sea transport. As time went by, new roads were constructed and the available transport systems improved. Travelling by air was also introduced. Improved transport system changed the tourism industry encouraging more people to come to Australia and more holiday makers to travel to various parts of Australia for holidays (Tourism Victoria, 2009).

The importance of tourism began to be realised in the twentieth century. No roads or good means of transport were available in Australia by then. The local councils of Australian regions realised the importance of both domestic tourism and international visitors coming to visit Australia and requested for funds to develop roads in their areas hence making the areas accessible. Roads were constructed which encouraged people to visit coastal areas which were the main attraction sites during those times.

This however changed with the identification of other attraction sites and activities. As more people spared time for holidays and more visitors came to Australia, more attraction sites were identified based on what people liked (Woods, 1865). After realisation that international visitors could contribute more to Australian income, A states body was formed to govern and make improvements in the tourism industry. The Australian Tourism Commission was formed in 1926 (Snape et al, 1998 p. 310).

The government has since been involved in the tourism industry (Tourism Australia, 2009) and has seen so many changes in the industry. Even the type of travel arrangements has changed with the industry having both package and non package travel arrangements. Non package however takes a large percentage currently (Tourism Australia, 2005). Changes Due to Improved Technology Changes due to improved Technology system at the beginning of the twentieth century when compared to the communication systems and improved technology systems of the current century show a great difference.

Holiday makers became aware of various tourist attraction sites through information obtained from explorers. Since1900 communication systems improved and tourists could be reached through advertisements. By 1996 things had changed and the communication systems had developed into online advertisements (Globalization SMEs and TD, 2009; Wahab &Cooper, 2001; Tourism Australia, 2005). Changes in Marketing Tourism in Australia had no advertisements at the beginning. As people became more aware of tourism and attractive areas that they could visit, the government began advertising.

In 1900, the advertisements could not be regarded as formal since they were just passage of information about a great place where holiday makers could visit. As time passed and more people developed interest in travelling for leisure and making holidays for leisure, formal advertisements arose. This was after some leaders of the Australian government realised that the Australians visited certain parts of Australia for leisure and that visitors expressed interest in certain regions of Australia.

The importance of international visitors contributed to advertising Australia as a tourist attraction country.

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