Uneven Distribution of Benefits in Tourism Industry

Tourism is a very important sector not only to the economy but also to the local community in general (Hardy, 2018). The society benefits from tourism to a bigger extend and as a result of the activities of the society towards tourism, the economy of the nation develops to a greater extend (Hardy, Vorobjovas-Pinta and Eccleston, 2018). In most of the cases, the benefits of tourism are unevenly distributed to the general community. This is because tourism being a unique service industry, requires unique skills which is usually acquired through training in hospitality and tourism. As a result, only a few individuals who have trained benefit more from the tourism activities in their country or region. According to Hardy and Ellis (2014) the benefits of tourism can be distributed to the community in various ways such as: Creation of employment for those who have specialized in hospitality and tourism, availability of good transport and communication network in the country or region to facilitate the movement of the visitors, enjoying cultural diversity through the interaction between the community and the visitors, Having an access to a variety of services as investors storm the region or the country to establish new business ventures so as to benefit from tourism activities, enhances the economic development of the nation and as a result the government uses the funds to create more jobs for the local citizens which generally improves the living standards of the people in the given country. As a result of tourism, creativity and innovation increases in the local community where people come up with new artifacts and designs of various things so as to attract the visitors which enhances self-employment for the people in the community.

According to Casella and Fennelly (2016) this is an island and state in Australia which was formerly referred to as Van Diemen’s Land. This state was named after Abel Janszoon Tasman who became the first European to discover the Island in 1642. In 1856 the Island was named Van Diemen’s Land after Antony Van Diemen who was the governor of the Dutch East Indies. This is for his honor for sending Tasman on his voyage of exploration in the region. Some of the most important tourist attractions in the regions are: Cradle mountain- Lake St Clair National Park which according to Eccleston, Hardy and Tinch (2017) this island contains some of the most attractive features such as the Dove Lake in the cradle mountain located at St Clair National Park as shown in the photo below. The glacier –carved crags, the alpine heathland, glittering Dove Lake and its highest point known as mount Ossa, make it a wonderful place for visitation. The magnificent view of the cradle mountain during the day is the best part of the scenario when any person visits the place. Hiking is usually one the most common activities at the place which attracts many visitors from various parts of the world. The wine glass Bay is another center of tourists’ attraction in Tasmania which according to Ellis, Scherrer and Walker (2017) this is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world with white sand and turquoise waters as shown in the photo below. The place attracts many visitors who visit Tasmania because of the beautiful scenery. The other important tourist attraction site is the hasting caves which were discovered by a group of timber workers in 1917 when they were cutting down trees near the entrance of the cave. In the year 1923 the caves were initially opened for tourists and the Newdegate cave is one of the biggest caves with 240 stairs for internal exploration and the thermal springs which has been a center of attraction for many tourists from all the parts of the world. The spectacular caves, the rain forest walks and the thermal springs make it the best place to be. Port Arthur Historic Site is also another attraction site which it is located in the south east of Hobart. It commenced as timber station in 1830s and was later transformed into a penal colony by Governor Arthur where repeat offenders, juvenile offenders and the worst British convicts were imprisoned and underwent reformation through psychological torture (Jones, 2016). Port Arthur relied on unpaid labor from the prisoners and most of the economic activities that took place were: timber collection, building ship and making shoes. This was done by prisoners so as to enable them acquire skills for survival after being released. The prison was much secured and the prisoners would not easily escape as it was surrounded by water infested with shark and there were military personnel stationed at each critical point with guard dogs (Maxwell-Stewart and Nicholson, 2017). The site also includes a museum with artefacts used during the conviction period by the prisoners and it is a center of attraction for most of the tourists in the world.  Freycinet National park is another site for attraction which is located at the east coast of Tasmania. It is relatively sunny which makes it a good place to relax. There are pink granite peaks, white sandy beaches, secluded bays and abundant birdlife features which make the place attractive for most of the visitors within and outside Australia. Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park is also a major tourist attraction that is rich in indigenous heritage for the aboriginal community. The most fascinating feature is the white water rafts that flow smoothly. Its dramatic mountain peaks and spectacular gorges makes it attractive for many visitors. Tasman National Park is also a significant center for attraction which protects most of the Australia’s spectacular sceneries at the coast. Its most famous features are the Tasman Arch and the Blowhole and its top sites include the devil’s kitchen, remarkable cave and the waterfall bay. The devil’s kitchen is in form of a collapsed rock arch. The national park is also a home for various wild animals and all these make it a tourist attraction site in Tasmania.

Tourist Attractions in Tasmania

Mount wellington is also a tourist attraction which is located in the West of Hobart. Its peak is usually covered with snow creating a beautiful scenery for the visitors (Hyslop, Hardy and Aryal, 2018). It is usually a popular location for hiking and biking hence visitors enjoy their visit to the place. Its dolerite cliff with distinctive organ pipes facilitates rock climbing process. According to Wilson (2015) Mount field National Park is one of the most attractive places in Tasmania with stunning water falls, magnificent rain forests, tall swamp gums and alpine moorland. It has marvelous walking trails wind through the park which are usually dusted with snow. It was a home for tigers which became extinct as the last one was spotted in 1930 but currently it is inhabited by various wild animals making it a tourist attraction site.

The tourism activities in Tasmania shall benefit the local community in various ways after the implementation of the vision 2020 strategy; it shall result to an increase in   creativity and innovation because many people in Tasmania shall create new products especially in the artifacts industry so as to attract the purchasing process by the visitors (Ryan, 2016). Each person shall create his artifact in a more unique manner to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in the market. It shall also result to the creation of employment opportunities since the tourism sector contributes much to towards the economy of Tasmania. According to Sofield, Guia  and Specht (2017)this is as a result of the money spend by the visitors during their vacation in hotels, restaurants, petrol stations and various sites of attraction. The government uses the generated funds to establish more hotels where people are employed. The tour guides are usually paid to take around the visitors to various sites of attraction in Tasmania. The local members of the community have established various small retail businesses due to the good economic condition creating self-employment for them. Tourism activities shall result to cultural diversity among the local. According to Ooi and Shelley (2018) through education, students from various parts of the world study in Tasmania. They exhibit their culture in the new environment through activities such as cultural shows where the local community get to learn cultures from other parts of the world. The locals also interact with the visitors and in the process they even learn the foreign language.

Tourism activities in Tasmania shall result to the development of sports.  According to Shams and Lombardi (2016) visitors come with new sporting activities which are usually adopted by the locals which further becomes part of their sports where they compete for various awards. There shall also be an improvement in the general infrastructure because tourism has resulted to the construction of good roads and hotels hence the locals can easily move from one place to another. The hotels have also been improvised due to tourism. As a result of tourism there shall be an increase in the value of land because many hotels shall be constructed to cater for the anticipated increase in the number of visitors in Tasmania and as a result, the value of land shall increase which is very important for the local community. Tourism shall also result in an increased number of flights because the anticipation for an increased number of visitors in Tasmania shall result to increased number of flights which shall enhance movement of locals to the location of their choice anytime. An increase in the number of flights implies a decrease in the freight charges due to an increased number of travelers which advantageous for the locals. Tourism shall enhance the career path of the students due to the choice of career in hospitality and tourism because of its high demand in the region. As a result of tourism there shall be increased opportunities for investment as tourism activities shall contribute to a lion’s share for investment in areas such as: accommodation, transport, pubs and cultural services. Tourism shall enhance the maintenance of the local communities’ culture through various cultural shows to the visitors by the local community, the cultural aspect is maintained and passed through various upcoming generations. The artefacts made shall be a clear symbolism of the culture which may be preserved for the future generations. Tourism shall enhance the population because people shall be stress free due to enough food and resources because of a stable economy as a result of tourism. Tourism shall result to the improved standards of living among the people since it shall result to employment and creation of jobs which in turn shall result to improved standards of living among the people in Tasmania. Tourism shall enhance industrial growth as a result of increased need for various commodities.  The government shall formulate various career development initiatives to align the needs of the work force with those of the industry for the achievement of the speculated objectives in tourism by 2020. There shall be an increase in tourism training institutes that shall offer various courses that shall lead to employment in tourism industry (Rentschler, Lehman and Fillis, 2018). This is very important because it shall enhance frequent supply of labor to cater for the visitor’s needs hence provision of timely services. The employees shall also be skilled an aspect that shall create a positive impact to the visitors. Through tourism, the local community shall interact with the visitors hence creating good relationship where people shall access the available opportunities in the foreign country. Tourism shall enhance the exchange of ideas between the parties that interact. The new ideas shall be useful to the locals in one way or the other. Tourism shall also result to increased prices for goods and services hence the local community shall benefit from business activities through profit maximization.

Benefits of Tourism for Local Communities

According to Tokarchuk, Maurer and Bosnjak (2015) the distribution of the benefits resulting from tourism to the entire community has been a major challenge because of the unequal distribution of the natural resources which implies that there are some of the areas with more sites of attraction than the others hence the people in such areas benefit more as compared to those who are not adjacent to any sites of attraction. The benefits of tourism can be distributed to the entire community in various ways such as through the construction of social facilities where   the government can facilitate the construction of social amenities such as hospitals which shall serve the entire community from the revenues generated from tourism. These shall be for the benefit of the entire community. The revenue generated from tourism can be used by the government to offer scholarship for various students in the local community due to the demanding need for education. According to Phillipov (2017) the community can come up with a project for their own good and the local government shall have the responsibility of financing the project from the profit realized from tourism industry. The generated funds can be used to create more jobs in the community and ensuring that all the individuals are given an equal opportunity for employment. The government can use the generated funds to invest in various sectors of the economy which creates a stable economy hence a low cost of living for a common citizen.

References

Casella, E.C. and Fennelly, K., 2016. Ghosts of sorrow, sin and crime: dark tourism and convict heritage in Van Diemen’s Land, Australia. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 20(3), pp.506-520.

Eccleston, R.G., Hardy, A. and Tinch, D.R., 2017. Case study: Tasmania driving innovation in the visitor economy.

Ellis, C., Scherrer, P. and Walker, K., 2017. Improving sustainable management of expedition cruise destinations in Australia: governance and management lessons from the Great Barrier Reef, the Kimberley and Tasmania. Cruise ship tourism, (Ed. 2), pp.465-483.

Hardy, A., 2018. We know where you are. And where you’ve been.: Interview with Louise Sanders.

Hardy, A., Vorobjovas-Pinta, O. and Eccleston, R., 2018. Enhancing knowledge transfer in tourism: An Elaboration Likelihood Model approach. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 37, pp.33-41.

Hardy, A., Ragaini, B.S. and Hyslop, S., 2018. Tracking tourists’ itineraries in Tasmania: A whole of destination approach in Tasmania, Australia. CAUTHE 2018: Get Smart: Paradoxes and Possibilities in Tourism, Hospitality and Events Education and Research, p.561.

Hardy, A. and Ellis, C., 2014. International students’ interest and experiences of working part-time in tourism while studying. CAUTHE 2014: Tourism and Hospitality in the Contemporary World: Trends, Changes and Complexity, p.866.

Hyslop, S., Hardy, A. and Aryal, J., 2018. The effect of weather on tourist visitation to a nature-based attraction. CAUTHE 2018: Get Smart: Paradoxes and Possibilities in Tourism, Hospitality and Events Education and Research, p.832.

Jones, J.K., 2016. Historical Archaeology of Tourism at Port Arthur, Tasmania, 1885-1960 (Doctoral dissertation, Environment: Department of Archaeology).

Maxwell-Stewart, H. and Nicholson, L., 2017. Penal Transportation, Family History, and Convict Tourism. In The Palgrave Handbook of Prison Tourism (pp. 713-734). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Ooi, C.S. and Shelley, B., 2018. Dare to Dream: Comparative Lessons on Building Cultural Capital from Children’s University Tasmania and Children’s University Asia-Malaysia.

Phillipov, M., 2017. Media Tourism and Rural Romance: Constructing Food Television’s ‘Cult Geographies’. In Media and Food Industries (pp. 107-131). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Ryan, L., 2016. Re-branding Tasmania: MONA and the altering of local reputation and identity. Tourist Studies, 16(4), pp.422-445.

Rentschler, R., Lehman, K. and Fillis, I., 2018. A private entrepreneur and his art museum: how MONA took Tasmania to the world. Chapters, pp.136-155.

Shams, S.R. and Lombardi, R., 2016. Socio-economic value co-creation and sports tourism: evidence from Tasmania. World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 12(2-3), pp.218-238.

Sofield, T., Guia, J. and Specht, J., 2017. Organic ‘folkloric’community driven place-making and tourism. Tourism Management, 61, pp.1-22.

Tokarchuk, O., Maurer, O. and Bosnjak, M., 2015. Tourism experience at destination and quality of life enhancement: a case for comprehensive congruity model. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 10(4), pp.599-613.

Wilson, S., 2015. The assessment of ecotourism developments in Tasmania. Australian Environmental Law Digest, 2(4), p.13.