Sustainable Tourism in Adelaide City - Case Study Example

Sustainable tourism in Adelaide City By (Name): Institution: Course: Tutor: Date: Sustainable tourism in Adelaide City Introduction For many countries, tourism is one of the main foreign exchange earners. Today, cities have become more vigilant in attracting tourists to it. This is because other cities of the assets they have in them. This has brought about the concept of sustainability, sustainable tourism, as well as sustainable cities (Journal of sustainable tourism, 2014). One of these cities is Adelaide in South Australia, which has been coming up with plans to make its tourism sustainable. In this project, Adelaide city was used to discuss the issues of urban sustainability and sustainable cities. The report will include an outline of the context of Adelaide including its geographic, demographic, historical, social, political, economic, and environmental aspects. Relevant tourism policies and planning for Adelaide and its surrounding suburbs will also be discussed. This will be followed by a literature review that includes a discussion of the concept of sustainability, sustainable tourism, and planning for sustainable cities. There will also be the identification of the sustainability assets in Adelaide that are used in marketing it as a model of sustainable urban destination. An analysis that describe the SWOT analysis of the future of tourism in Adelaide as a sustainable city will be discussed. The last section has the discussion of the findings as well as the recommendations that arise from the analysis. An outline of Adelaide’s context Adelaide the state of South Australia’s capital city. In Australia, it is the fifth most populous city. By 2014, its population was estimated to be 1.3 million. The city is located on the north of Fleurieu Peninsula that is on Adelaide plains in between the Mount Lofty Ranges and Gulf St. Vincent. The city extends for a stretch of 20 kilometres from the foothills of the coast, as well as 104 kilometres on its north from Gawler, and on its south from Sellicks beach. Adelaide was founded in 1836 and was named in tribute to Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, the queen consort of King William IV. It was meant to be province for the freely settled British that were in Australia. During the founding of the city, one of its founders, Colonel William Light chose the city’s location next to River Torren, the area that the Kaurna people inhabited. The design made by Light was on a grid layout that was surrounded by parklands, large public squares, and wide boulevards. Before the Second World War, the city was known for wealth and prosperity, making it the third largest city in Australia (Australian Explorer, 2016). Before the British settled in Adelaide, the area was bushland with many variations including swamps, sand hills, and marshlands around the coastal area. However, due to urban development that came with soil erosion, the coastline has been greatly destroyed. Although the government has tried to come up with practical solutions for rebuilding and vegetating the sand hills on many of the city’s beachside suburbs, much of the destruction already occurred. However, some reserves including Belair National Park and the Cleland Conservation Park still remain. The Adelaide region is also known for a good flow of rivers and creeks. The two largest catchments for the city are Onkaparinga and Torrens. Adelaide as well as its surrounding suburbs are the areas in Australia that are the most active seismically (Australian Explorer, 2016). When it comes to the demography of the area, the 2011 census revealed that its metropolitan population was over 1,225,235, which makes Adelaide the fifth largest city in Australia. In the recent years, higher population growth has been seen in the outer suburbs of Adelaide including Golden Grove and Mawson Lakes. The inhabitants of Adelaide occupy 49, 413 units, flats, and apartments, 366,912 houses, and 57,695 semi detached, town, or row terrace houses. The census also showed that those that had a university qualification were about 17.1% of the Adelaide population. The Adelaideans that were born overseas as at the 2011 census was 29.8% of the total population. The economy of Adelaide is also not on a very good point at this time. However, in terms of the employment rates, the social assistance and healthcare sectors are seen to be the greatest employers. The other large employer is that of retail trade. Additionally, about half of the vehicles driven by the people of Australia are manufactured in Adelaide (Australian Explorer, 2016). Relevant tourism policy and planning for Adelaide and surrounding suburbs In order to bring out Adelaide as a sustainable city and tourism destination, several policies and plans have been formulated to protect the natural resources as well as the assets needed for that purpose. The economy of South Australia is highly driven by tourism. One of the plans is the South Australian tourism plan for vision 2020. The plan indicates that the tourism industry in that area is one that has benefited many people since it employs 31,000 Australians directly and another 23,000 indirectly. Through the plan, a foundation for a tourism industry that flourishes is created. It also shows the consumers the country’s competitive advantage as well as the diverse experience they can get in South Australia. At the same time, all the roles of the various stakeholders in the industry are given a better understanding of their roles, relationships with each other, and the connection between each one of them. Therefore, the plan covers Adelaide together with its surrounding suburbs. Adelaide city council has also come up with many plans, strategies, and policies meant to protect the assets of that city. One of these policies is the Active City Policy that guides the manner in which the council provides opportunities for the community. This is to ensure the community is active participates in recreation activities, and maintain good health. This is an initiative of the sustainable city. The city also has the Guidelines for Parks and land building designs that is meant for giving guidelines for alterations or buildings that are within the Adelaide Park Lands. A guideline has also been provided for the funding of arts and cultural activities. This is meant to provide eligible groups with funds to enable them deliver inspiring cultural and art projects as well as events meant to contribute positively to the city especially in terms of tourism. Again, there is the asset management policy whose work is to put measures for the management of the assets of the city. With this, it will be easy to ensure the assets that bring in tourists are not destroyed in any way. Adelaide also has a land use plan that governs its activities. In the master plan, it is recognized that Adelaide Airport is the main transport hub for the country. It is also the most important employment base in the metropolitan area of Adelaide. The airport is a main centre of activity in Western Adelaide and thus has the potential of supporting many users making it an efficient of the infrastructure that is already existing. Literature review Today, the concept of sustainability is one that is being embraced throughout the world. Sustainability involves the use of resources in a manner that it will be able to meet the needs of the current and future generation. This is to ensure the resources are available indefinitely so that they can keep being used from one generation to another. The other definition of sustainability is a socio-ecological process whose characteristics are pursuing a common ideal. This means that appropriate measures are put in place to prevent the destruction of the existing resources. Tourism, just like other sectors that benefit a city or country must be sustainable so that it can benefit even the future generations. Sustainable tourism involves the application of concepts to the industry of tourism as well as the related environmental, economic, and social aspects of travel and tourism. Ensuring sustainable tourism requires the ability of cities to sustain themselves. A sustainable city is one that is designed considering the impact it has on the environment. The people living in those cities have the dedication of minimizing the input of the required water, food, energy, and waste. It also aims at the reducing the output of air pollution, heat, as well as air pollution. A sustainable city ideally creates a way of living across the four ecology domains including economics, ecology, culture, and politics. For the tourism of a city to be sustainable, the city must be sustainable as well. That is why a city must ensure it can sustain itself before putting up measures to sustain their tourism industry (Journal of sustainable tourism, 2014). A sustainable city has many impacts on the tourism of a country. Having a sustainable city improves the quality of life thus affecting tourism in many ways. The cities provide parks and open space, which can be used by tourists for recreation. Having high quality water and air provides an environment that is healthy for tourists. A sustainable city also needs to reduce the number of low-income facilities. This is a way of letting the tourists feel safe due to the perceived reduction in the crime rates in that city. When a city has an integrated transport system and land, it makes it easier for the tourists to move around. The tourism resources can be diverse when the sustainable city provides protected sites and protected lands (Riffat, 2011). Similarly, there is also an impact tourism exerts on the sustainable cities. In terms of the quality of life and the sense of place, the development of tourism sites leads to integrated transport and land as well as an enhancement of the protected places. Having the educative attractions and tours helps in improving the quality of water and air. Again, the tourism industry offers employment to the people of the city, which reduces the number of low-income communities that may negatively hinder tourism. The tourist attractions provide parks, heritage, culture, and protected lands that people in the sustainable city can use. Additionally, the tourism industry has a component of corporate social responsibility that helps in the reduction of corruption and promotes human rights in the city (Sustainable tourism development in regional South Australia, 2002). Sustainable tourism assets in Adelaide city Adelaide is one of the sustainable cities in the world. Therefore, they are also coming up with ways of ensuring the city is conducive for tourists to visit it. The city has many community gardens and vast parklands. There are also many plant species in the city that makes it extremely attractive to tourists. All this is in the attempt of creating a green city (http://www.ppt.asn.au, 2016). One of the sustainable assets in Adelaide that promote tourism is the city’s water. Water is a precious resource and thus needs to be taken care of. One of the driest parts of the Australian continent is South Australia. Therefore, Adelaide tries to ensure that the city does not lack water. The city has therefore come up with ways of minimizing the wastage of water. One of the way of ensuring there is sustainable water supply is the Stormwater Management Plan that is used in the Keswick Creek and Brown Hill stormwater catchments in the inner suburbs of Adelaide. Through the plan, the issue of flooding is reduced, water quality is maintained, and storm water is reused. This makes the ecosystem healthy, making the city beautiful and attractive for tourism (Adelaidecitycouncil.com, 2016). One of the city’s sustainable assets is the biodiversity, which comprises the native plants, animals, and habitats. With the numerous parklands, Adelaide is able to give a perfect opportunity for reinstating some of the vegetation that has been lost on the plains of Adelaide. Through a collaboration of the community volunteers, the city council, and the State Government Million Trees program, many projects of re-vegetation have been carried. Initially, the parklands and the city were covered by various species of diverse native woodlands that provided habitat for various native animals and plants. However, once people started to settle in the city, most of the vegetation was cleared. The city council of Adelaide is, however, doing its best to protect the remnant vegetation, engaging volunteers, replanting the remnant vegetation, giving incentives to the native gardens, and supports research aimed at enhancing urban biodiversity (Adelaidecitycouncil.com, 2016). The SWOT analysis of Adelaide’s future tourism With the growth of tourism in Adelaide and the fact that Adelaide is becoming a sustainable city, there is need to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that surround the issue of tourism in Adelaide. This analysis is important because it helps the city to put the right measures in place for making tourism even much better. The table below shows the SWOT analysis of tourism in Adelaide. Strengths The city has many parks that make it attractive for tourism The city has diverse tourism products The climate is conducive for people to visit it The city has tried to restore nature The city has an airport that makes it open to being visited by tourists The city is accessible using various means of transport The community has been involved in the protection of the environment, which improves the sustainability of the city Weaknesses The city is facing problems with re-vegetating it with the native flora and fauna Most tourists do not sleep in the city Lack of adequate advertisement The accommodation facilities are not superior Low international awareness Having few partners and sponsors Opportunities The market of tourism is greatly growing in South Australia, and especially in Adelaide Most Australians prefer going for vacations in Australia Threats Global warming Increased insurance costs Increased competition Increased costs of fuel Discussion and recommendations Adelaide is one of the cities that are concerned with ensuring sustainable tourism. Thus sustainability just has been seen in the previous discussions has made Adelaide the model attraction city for tourists. This sustainability can be seen in terms of the economic, environmental, and social factors. Sustainability in the tourism industry is an important part of Adelaide. The city has a good location and a good stretch that gives it is a good room for tourism. The climate makes it even more attractive to tourism. When it comes to an evaluation of the tourists, 59% of the tourists do not sleep in the city, something that affects the income the city gets from tourism. Adelaide city has many opportunities that promote tourism including restaurants, hotels, and the good environment and climate. The socially sustainable development of Adelaide is greatly dependent on the tourism of Adelaide. When it comes to sustainable tourism in Adelaide city, the environment plays a big role. The city is known for its efficiency in energy use, which helps in the improvement of profits. Being a dry continent, Australia’s consumption of water is very high as well. However, as a sustainable city, the country tries to save water. These measures help in saving money and conserving the valuable resources of water (Chawla, 2006). Recommendations In order to deal with the challenges and threats facing Adelaide city, the following recommendations can be implemented to make it better. The city should look for ways to find and attract new markets They should also look for sponsors and business partners They should promote their tourism assets better The city should use YouTube more for reaching the international audience In order to share and emulate ideas and resources, the city should network with groups that are like-minded The city also needs to engage better with all cultural and age groups The management should look for ways of bringing back the history of the city They should develop the type of tourism where all senses are engaged Instead of the static museum displays, they should use more on interactive experiences that are more technologically driven The local government and the state need to encourage the tourism industry by giving their whole support Conclusions The journey of sustainability is one that never ends. The process continues from generation to generation. This is despite all the efforts put in place to ensure it runs smoothly. However, for sustainable tourism to be achieved there is a need to come up with sustainable cities because they work together. Adelaide city as a tourist destination has tried its best to create sustainable assets for its tourism industry. Still, having seen the challenges and threats above, there needs to be a strategy for eliminating the challenges and improving the strengths. References Australian Explorer 2016, Adelaide Information, viewed 21 September 2016, https://www.australianexplorer.com/adelaide_information.htm. Adelaidecitycouncil.com 2016, Biodiversity - Adelaide City Council, viewed 21 September 2016 http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/city-living/sustainable-adelaide/biodiversity Adelaidecitycouncil.com 2016, Gardens - Adelaide City Council, viewed 21 September 2016 http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/city-living/sustainable-adelaide/gardens Adelaidecitycouncil.com, 2016, Strategies, Policies & Plans - Adelaide City Council, viewed 21 September 2016 http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/your-council/policies-papers/ Adelaidecitycouncil.com 2016, Water - Adelaide City Council. viewed 21 September 2016 http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/planning-development/sustainable-adelaide/water/ Chawla, R 2006, Sustainable urban tourism, New Delhi, Sonali Publications. Ppt.asn.au 2016, Sustainable Adelaide, viewed 21 September 2016 http://www.ppt.asn.au/pubdocs/newconnbudgetfinweb.pdf Journal of sustainable tourism 2014, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 22(8). Riffat, S 2011, Welcome to a new journal—Sustainable Cities and Society, Sustainable Cities and Society, 1(1), pp.1-2. Sustainable tourism development in regional South Australia 2002, Adelaide, South Australian Tourism Commission. Read More