Custom «Tourism Impacts Perceived by Residents» Essay Paper Sample

1.0 Executive summary

Melbourne in Australia is a dynamic tourism hub that attracts thousands of tourists in every given year. It is among the many tourist centres in the vast Australia. This report based on Melbourne will provide a better insight on the impact of tourism in the area. It looks into the impacts of tourism socially, economically, politically and environmentally. It will also cater to how tourism is perceived by the locals of Melbourne and with recommendations of how tourism can be improved. Within this report it clearly shows gender variations within tourism in Melbourne. It also contains recommendations of how the government should increase awareness on what its plans are for tourism. This is in order as to involve those who are against future development of tourism in the region. It also looks at the cycle of tourism within Melbourne and how a functional balance should be put up in order to deter any irreversible changes in the tourism sector. It further shows how the government should consider creating curriculums that also include tourism so as to prepare people on how to effectively manage this sector.

2.0 Introduction summary

The basis of this research was to find out how tourism is perceived by the residents who live within the grounds of tourism destination. It looks to find the positive effects and also the negative effects of tourism on these people. It also looks to find what the social, economical, cultural and also environmental impact of tourism. The research also looks into answering questions whether demographic factors such as gender, education level and life cycle play any role in the variations of attitude among the residents. It also looks into finding what the perception of the residents is towards future development of tourism. It also gives recommendations of what kind of management actions should be taken to minimize the identified negative effects or impacts of tourism.

This research was applied by providing both primary and secondary forms of data. The primary data was through interviews and also observation that was conducted no the people living within the grounds of tourism of Melbourne in Australia. It gauged to conclude what the people thought about tourism in the area. What the positive and negative impact tourism had on the area and also the people. Secondary data was on what had been collected earlier by other researchers and how they perceived tourism in this area. The data was then collected and tallied to give a clear definition of what was on the ground. Subsequently, recommendations and benefits were made based on the findings.

3.1 Primary data

The primary data involved observation of the kind of developments that have cropped up in the areas of Melbourne. From the observation there were a lot of new developments in term of businesses that have cropped up within the area.

3.2 Secondary data

This was by reviewing what has been captured before by other researchers.

4.0 Results/Findings

4.1 Social effects

4.1.1 Positive social effects

There has been creation of togetherness within Melbourne as people want to portray a better Australia. They are people of different backgrounds and together they have brought in a mix of all culture which has been an attraction in the tourism sector. The bringing of different cultures together has reduced the stereotyping, thus the development of pride, sense of belonging and increased self-esteem of both the host and the tourists. It has also socially led to the preservation of traditions and preservation and maintenance of historical and architectural monuments.

4.1.2 Negative social effects

It might have onset negative social effects such as those of suspicion from the locals. From the people interviewed they felt that they were not gaining effectively from the incomes generated by tourism within the area. They feel that most of the traveler's fees, close to 80% go to hotels, airlines and other international companies and not to the local businessmen and the workers. Others who were interviewed and from the observation, it showed that majority of the large hotels and chain restaurants import food in order to satisfy the diverse population of the customers and they rarely employ local workers for the senior positions within the hospitality industry. The locals therefore feel that they are left out to benefit from their presence. It has also been proven that tourism can not be entirely relied on as a source of income to any country

4.2 Economic effects

4.2.1 Positive economic effects

Economically speaking, tourism is a noteworthy factor behind the growth of Australia's economy in the recent years. There has been an improved form of transport with the government integrating public transport system with the tram, train and bus networks in order to facilitate the huge influx of tourists who visit the area on daily basis and also to cater for the large population of people that live within Melbourne. Due to tourism there have been increased activities both at the port of Melbourne and also at the airport. This has had a positive economic effect as it has created a lot of job opportunities to the people residing in Melbourne. Job creation has included a broad range of fields including transport, accommodation, tour operators, museums, restaurants and even souvenir retailers.

There has also been an increase in the information and technology sector as they have been proven to be effective ways of reaching out to the wider market of tourists. This has been documented by Tourism Australia which reported an increased number of Muslims who have been destined to travel to Australia. This has increased the working opportunities for many in the creation of sectors in hospitality that can accommodate the Muslims.

4.2.2 Negative economic effects

On the other hand, tourism has had a negative effect as it has brought congestion in Melbourne with people streaming in to find working opportunities.

4.3 Political effects

4.3.1 Positive political effects

There has been increased participation from the government as they decide on new ways of attracting tourist into Australia through tourism. Tourism in Australia is among the major sectors that has brought great returns over the years. It has therefore captured the attention of the government who has to create better transportation systems to boost tourism. It also fostered better political relationship with neighboring and other countries.

4.3.2 Negative political effects

There has however been controversy as this will mean acquiring land from the people. This in effect might prove Erisman 1983:345 theory of economic dependency. This means that economic and politics depend on each which in turn has to depend on the culture of the people. If the lands are taken from the people, it might result to lose of control in native decision making. The outcome effects will affect the way of living and socialization of the culture.

There have been resultants cluster groups of people who either protest or support the future development of tourism within Melbourne in Australia.

5.1 Those against future development of tourism in Melbourne

Those that are mainly against development of tourism argue that tourism will bring about mass-tourism which in the end will lead to over consumption, lack of resources and pollution. They also argued that there will be a depletion of culture as successful development of any kind of resource may lead to negative effects. Such negative effects would include over-development of some areas more than others thus leading to the influx of rural to urban migration. Other effects argued against future development of tourism included conflicts, assimilation, artificial reconstruction among other effects.

5.2 Those for the development of tourism in Melbourne

However, there was a group of those interviewed that saw a better creation of social, economic, and political within Melbourne. They said that tourism is more preferable and acceptable as it proves to be more economically friendly. The only problem with this is that there has been a change in culture which has been a way of life to many. Tourism has however proved to be a beneficial and also economically and environmentally friendly way of survival to many.

Many also showed that the government has been responsive in creating and improving primary infrastructure and community facilities so as to attract more foreign audience. As shown in the 2000 Sydney Olympics which attracted a lot of tourist, the government equipped the city with international stadiums, improved infrastructure and transport amenities and also increased airport services.

6.0 Gender variations in the tourism sector

There has been perceived discrimination within the tourism sector of Melbourne Australia. This has been documented that only a figure of 36% of managers within the tourism sector are women. They however hold diminutive positions such as housekeeping, kitchen work and waiting. (Chang Huh Journal of travel research 2010)

7.0 Tourism life cycle

It has therefore become a vicious cycle of economic disadvantages and the advantages.  A functional balance has to be set to determine how to determine irreversible changes and negative devastating impacts due to poorly planned tourism.

8.0 Recommendations

Having viewed the impact of tourism as both positive and negative effects socially, economically, politically and even environmentally, it all comes down to the extent which tourism is developed within Melbourne. Having compiled the primary and the secondary data; there were many recommendations that would improve the perception of the locals towards tourism industry within Melbourne in Australia. The negative impacts of tourism were tallied and from what the locals pointed out there could be ways to make this a win-win situation for both the government and also the local people.

1. The government should come up with better ways of acquiring land for further infrastructure development. It should create incentive ways though which even the local people can benefit. E.g. the creation of jobs during the construction of these kinds of infrastructure, better compensation ways to the people among many other ways. It should clearly state the purpose of this extensive creation of infrastructure while detailing how it will be of importance to the people. Every region within Melbourne has its own bearing capacity, the limit of the incoming influence to which it does not affect the host community and the people. If this negative impact can be overcome then future development of tourism will be underway.

2. The government which is a major beneficiary of tourism within Australia should try and hold discussions that will involve both parties that are for and against future development of tourism within the area of Melbourne. Though it has been proven that tourism cannot be entirely relied on as a form of income, the government should come up with other ways of creating job opportunities to those who view that there cannot be any future development in tourism.

3. The government should not indulge only in tourism as a form of income to the country but should also try to diversify the way it creates awareness. This includes the over development in certain areas while leaving out other many and capable tourism attraction areas.

4. There should be ways in which tourism does not become mass tourism and therefore deplete the resources within the tourism sector. There should also be ways in which pollution is controlled so as not to affect the tourism industry.

5. There should be an expansion in information technology as a way to bring in more tourists into Melbourne. It has not been exhaustively looked into as it would be another way of job creation to ht many people within the tourism sector.

6. Security should be increased as there have been cases of insecurity mainly from the tourists. This happens mainly during the periods of influx of tourists.

7.There has not been proper education on the economic benefits of tourism within the regions of Melbourne Australia. Therefore there should be creation of educational positions in which many are bound to take up chances in the new creation of jobs.

8.The locals should be involved in all levels of leadership. There should be rules governing the percentage of locals that are hired within the present working opportunities such as in hotels and other hospitality sector.