Canberra as a Tourism Destination - Case Study Example

Canberra as a Tourism Destination (Insert Student Name) (Insert Institution) (Insert Date) Introduction Canberra, also referred to as ‘bush capital’, is not only the capital city of Australia but also unique from other cities since it was designed from an international competition held in 1911. The architects Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion Mahony Griffin won the competition and consequently designed Canberra city. They were able to incorporate the natural landscape as much as possible. The name ‘Canberra’ is a derivative of the Ngunnawal Aborigines word ‘Kanberra’ meaning ‘meeting place’ (Slessor 1966, p. 12). Canberra has since transformed into an essential Australian tourism destination and the government is make huge strides to market it as such. The city currently has an interactive website; www.visitcanberra.com.au that features all of the attraction sites with pictorial images complementing the experience (Visit Canberra-home of the Australian story, 2013). Additionally, every year the government issues an official free copy publication called Canberra Capital Region Holiday Planner to promote the city’s attractions. In addition, this can be accessed online via the city’s website. Canberra has also installed touch screens systems at key locations within the region to ease access of information for the visitors. These can be found at the airport, National Zoo, Canberra Visitors Centre, Black Mountain Tower and Aquarium (Maitland & Ritchie 2009, p. 40-48). This paper will provide an in-depth look into Canberra as a successful tourism destination. Also, it will examine the measure of its success, products offered, where it stands on the national and international tourism system and the impact it has as a destination. Measures to which Canberra is a successful tourist destination A successful tourism destination is a summation of various factors and not as a single common attribute. These factors are how the destination relates to its environment, the community, and the entire tourism industry in general. Canberra’s fond name ‘the bush capital’ is a vivid testimony that it has integrated successfully with the natural environment. Additionally, it has been blessed with beautiful parks such as the Namadgi National Park and the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve offering special appeal that is more suited to outdoor activities. Lake Burley Griffin and the National Arboretum also add up to this appeal. The capital through the Canberra and Capital Region Tourism Awards encourages the community to build a sustainable tourism industry. It recognises tourism businesses that support the community through use of local products and services, employment opportunities to the local residents and the interaction with community-based organisations. As the national capital, Canberra is an integral part of the nation’s tourism industry. The Australian War Memorial, the Old Parliament House and the National Museum host a wide array of the nation’s history and artefacts. It has also hosted major national sporting events as highlighted in latter sub-headings. Using the above factors as a yardstick for measuring success, it is evident that Canberra is a successful tourism destination. Canberra as a tourism destination in the national and international tourist system The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government commissioned the building of a brand of Canberra to promote its tourism facilities. The brand is expected to be fully packaged in order to promote Canberra as the nation’s capital, a cultural and research centre and also link it to the national Australian brand strategy. The city has a competitive advantage in sports tourism both nationally and internationally. It has attracted major sporting events namely; the Australian Masters Rowing Championship in 2013, the Hockey Masters Game in 2011, and most recently it won the bid to host the 2015 Asian Cup Football finals. It also hosts the Australian Institute of Sports and the rugby and women’s basketball national teams. The capital’s reputation as a world-class research hub in the national and international arena has served to develop business tourism. In March 2013, The Times ranked the Australian National University based in Canberra as number 42 worldwide, and second in the country after University of Melbourne. This strengthens the capital’s image as a research centre and thus attracting major conferences with international appeal. According to the Tourism Policy Statement (2012, p. 5), it is estimated that the business travellers spend an average of $554 a day as opposed to $94 a day by the leisure tourists. Canberra has a cultural and heritage appeal. Australians can relate to it as harbouring the nation’s history; housing the National Museum and other famous galleries for government or privately owned. The appeal has also attracted many international tourists and the successful hosting of the world-class Paris exhibition 2009-2010, is an affirmation to this. The Tourism Policy Statement (2012, p. 6) indicates the gallery attracted more than 470,000 visitors. Canberra’s products Canberra tourism products range from sports and recreation facilities, national museums and galleries, vibrant entertainment spots, beautiful nature, and landscapes to wineries. It is also centrally located offering easy access to neighbouring tourism destinations such as the Snowy Mountains, Murrumbidgee corridor, Tidbinbilla, Poacher’s Way and the South Coast. The Canberra wine region is renowned for its numerous wineries; over a hundred and its wine quality that has led to many awards for the winemaker’s. The region hosts the Canberra District Wine Festival where visitors get to experience tantalising food, music, and most important an assortment of wines. The tourists also get a chance to interact with the winemaker’s and learn a bit of history on the same. The bustling nightlife caters for all individuals as well as families. There are excellent pubs, lounges, clubs, and casinos for the adventurous people. Families can visit theatres, offering dances, plays, and concerts or, catch a movie at the cinemas. As a planned city, Canberra is home to some of breath taking and amazing buildings and architectural structures. It is home to the Parliamentary triangle, the stunning Free Serbian Orthodox Church, the historic Blundell Cottage, the fascinating Finnish embassy, and the expansive Anzac Parade. The Canberra Museum offers deep insight into the history of Australia, and its galleries host some of the finest artworks in the world. These are supplemented by even more local galleries, such as the Beaver gallery and the Australian National Capital Artists (ANCA) gallery that offer a range of crafts from various artists. For a relaxing panoramic view, Canberra offers hot air balloon rides from where tourists can get a bird’s eye view of the major scenic sites. Its waterways provide perfect sites for kayaking, and sailing. The bushes offer excellent picnic, and leisure walk sites. The rugged terrain of Namadgi National park is also a favourite with the mountain bike enthusiasts. After an exhausting day of site-seeing and travel, visitors can indulge in full body massages at the numerous spa centres’ in the capital. The Canberra Day Spa, Earth Day Spa, Mudd the Spa are just a few of the spa’s where one can enjoy deep sensual massages, facial, and feet treatment, aroma therapy among others. It is also important to evaluate some aspects that undermines Canberra products as discussed in the next section. The capital, however, lacks a world-class centre that can hold major national and international conferences such as the G20 summit. This undermines the status of the national capital as a major business hub. According to the Tourism Policy Statement (2012, p. 10) the Adelaide Convention Centre, which is Canberra’s major competitor, brought in over AUS $ one billion in 2011. This is a clear indication that the capital is losing billions in revenue from the lack of such centres. Another important but missing factor is lack of direct international flights to the capital. This has resulted to the negative criticism by international visitors. Many tourists find it cumbersome to connect flights to the capital. The transport within the capital is also heavily reliant on roads. The absence of a modern rail system like other major world cities incapacitates the transportation system. Impacts of Canberra as a destination Canberra as a tourism destination has had a positive contribution to the economy. In 2010, there were more than 2,000,000 domestic visitors and 155,000 foreign visitors. This generated revenues of over $ one billion from domestic tourists and $ 284 million from international tourists (Barr 2011, p. 1). Also, the growth of educational tourism has been evident leading to recognition of schools in the region and as a result increasing their economic impact. This is largely as a benefactor of The National Capital Educational Tourism Project that seeks to boost the number of students visiting the region. Tourism in many parts of the world is negatively credited for environmental degradation. However, the ACT government is planning to plant 100 forests in the National Arboretum. By 2011, there were 65 forests already planted. This certainly will have a positive environmental impact for many years to come. Additionally, tourism in the capital has led to the development of new infrastructure and refurbishment of existing ones. There are new five star hotels like Hotel Realm, Diamant Hotel, and Abode hotel offering classy accommodation for visitors. There are also plans to put up a tourism accommodation facility at the National Zoo and Aquarium. Though there has been much of positive impact from the tourism, Altman (1989, p. 4) asserts that the Aboriginal people who are the original inhabitants of the land from which Canberra is located, remain poor. He further explains that although a share from the mining activities is guaranteed to the Aboriginals, the same cannot be said of tourism. Conclusion Canberra is certainly a successful and important tourism destination in the Australian economy. The authority has succeeded to market this city as a both international and national destination. Canberra has been packaged to offer diverse tourism products that have taken it in new heights in this sector. There are various factors that can be attributed to success of this city and they include interaction between community, environment and tourism industry at large. The statistics also indicate that business tourism generates more revenue than leisure tourism. The ACT government needs to capitalise on this fact by building more world-class conference facilities with ample accommodation facilities. This should go hand-in-hand with the expansion of Canberra airport to include direct flights with added facilities for the business traveller. References Altman, J 1989, ‘Tourism dilemmas for aboriginal Australians’ Annals of Tourism Research. Vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 456-476. Barr, A 1989, ‘Energy and Ideas’, paper presented at the Tourism Connect Canberra and Regional Symposium, National Convention Centre, Canberra, 24 March. Maitland, R & Ritchie, B, W 2009, City Tourism: National Capital Perspectives, CABI, Australia. Slessor, K 1966, Canberra, Rigby Limited, Adelaide, Australia. Tourism Policy Statement 2012, Canberra Business Council, viewed 21 April 2013, . Visit Canberra-home of the Australian story 2013, Things to do and see, Canberra, viewed 21 April 2013, . Read More