Assignment on Sustainable Operations and Destinations

Running Head: SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS
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Sustainable Operations and Destinations
Great barrier reef in Australia
(Student Details: )
2/18/2020

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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Reflection on Great Barrier Reef in Australia............................................................................2
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
This reflective paper is focused on sustainable operations and destinations so that
reflection on the learning acquired from the course can be integrated effectively. With the
help of this reflective essay, I will analyse the course material theories, ideas as well as core
concepts presented by the lecturer during the course. I will also summarize my feelings about
the material covered throughout the course and term as well. The reflective paper is going to
demonstrate my understanding of the concepts learned during the term with the help of the
selected topic as the ‘Great Barrier Reef in Australia’ (GBRA). For reflecting on the chosen
topic I will utilise the key concept of ‘Sustainable and Responsible Tourism’ so that the
theories can be related to the chosen topic of reflection. Although, there were so many
concepts studied by me in the course such as Butler’s Sequence, Kuznets curve, responsible
production and consumption, the economics of externalities, and GSTC yet the theory of
sustainable and responsible tourism will be appropriate here. While reflecting on the GBRA,
it is worth knowing that this site is the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981 hence it
needs to be protected and preserved from the sustainable tourism perspective.
Reflection on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
While learning into this module, I got to know about the sustainable tourism concept
and hence this topic attracted to writing a reflection. In general, the GBRA is the global
largest coral reef system which is typically composed of more than 2900 individual reefs as
well as 900 islands while stretching for more than 2300 km across an area of 344,400 Km2
(UNESCO, 2020). It is worth knowing that this reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast
of Queensland, Australia. I have chosen this tourist site for reflecting upon this course
learning because GBRA offers a habitat for threatened as well as rare species of animals and
plants of biodiversity (Britannica, 2020).
As per my evolved opinions after learning into this module, the chosen site GBRA
must be preserved and protected. It is also because the principle of sustainable and
responsible tourism suggests that natural as well as cultural attractions should always be
protected for future generations to come (Queensland, 2020). In this context, I have found
that GBRA is a protected zone by the Marine Authority of Australia. I am relieved that GBR
Marine Authority issues commercial permits to the operators only that too only with

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ecotourism certification (UNESCO, 2020). I also learned that sustainable and responsible
tourism often ensures that all of the cultural, as well as natural attractions are appropriately
protected for upcoming generations to come. After studying into this course, I got to know
that tourism on the reef and coast is hugely worth as Aus$4 billion per year and thereby it
employs more than 47,000 people per year (Taylor, 2020). In this way, to me,
sustainable tourism seems to be a goal of management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Apart from this, I observed that tourism always has a few negative environmental and
social effects on the reef as well as the coastal environment (Great Barrier Reef, 2020).
According to me, a scariest and biggest issue in relation to responsible tourism on the
GBRA is the vast living structure which is the largest in the world, has begun to die. It has
been observed that almost everything is alive and well, yet it gets warm and worse when the
water becomes overheated. This is the reason that the coral cannot survive in the upcoming
future for the sake of reasons like global warming and greenhouse effect (Budeanu, Miller,
Moscardo, & Ooi, 2016). I personally felt that the climate debate all over the world is getting
more and worse in Australia. To me, all of the gigantic bleaching is happening due to the
sudden overheating of the water that is stressing the coral reef in Australia. In addition to that,
this is essential to preserve and conserve our natural creatures and destinations too (Higgins,
2018). I learned the principle and concept of sustainable and responsible tourism which tells
all about sustainability in tourism. Here, it is important to know that sustainability is which
can be effectively achieved by people who are taking responsibility for achieving it in every
area. On the other hand, I have learned that responsible tourism is the process of
taking responsibility for making tourism sustainable all across Australia and the world. I have
sensed that this theory of sustainable and responsible tourism is about what people should do
to resolve the key specific challenges the world is facing today (Lu, Nakicenovic, Visbeck, &
Stevance, 2015).
In this case, it has been found that the coral reef can efficiently recover from gigantic
bleaching by lowering the water temperature as well as cleaning the water for aquatic
animals. On the contrary, there are so many parts of the GBRA which are not at all
recovering and they are dying at a fast pace (Lozano & Blancas, 2019). As per the research
and my personal learning, I can say that gigantic bleaching in GBRA has happened due to the
natural phenomenon of El Niño in the past. It is worth knowing that, the natural phenomena
which started reef bleaching were a blast of warm water inside the reef. Such blast of warm

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water kicks in every 5 years and ultimately ruining the natural heritage site of UNESCO
(UNESCO, 2020). When the key impact of El Niño has been observed during the past, it has
been noted that the destruction throughout 2016 to coral has been speedy as well as hard-
hitting. In this way, we are seeing that a spread of bleaching is flying over the reef as well as
taking shots or taking underwater records (Britannica, 2020).
The gigantic bleaching of the GBRA has been well documented by so many NGOs,
not for profit and environmental agencies, like The Ocean Agency (IGI Global, 2017). Based
on the above analyses, I believe that coral reef dying is not just affecting human diving as
well as snorkelling trips but it is giving an alarm to the whole globe for survival. In other
words, we all are constantly observing that fishes and other ocean animals have nowhere to
feed or shelter and hence bigger fish is not having smaller fish to eat. Thus, my perception
regarding this issue of sustainable tourism suggests that there is a huge difference between
sustainable and responsible tourism (Pearce, Barbier, & Markandya, 2013). For instance,
responsible tourism is the process of using tourism to make better places for global people
from both living as well as visiting purposes (Queensland, 2020).
To me, responsible tourism for GBRA is different from sustainable tourism because
GBRA focuses on what government, businesses and people should practice for effectively
maximizing the positive social, environmental and economic impacts on tourism (IGI Global,
2017). I found that restricting tourists and visitors to a great barrier reef of Australia will
allow us to ensure a sustainable tourism future for all. While learning into this course, I
observed that sustainable and responsible tourism is all about recognizing the key issues
regionally and then addressed them ( Luiz & Sanchez, 2018). As per my evolved opinion, I
would suggest society people work and contribute efforts towards utilising tourism for
sustainable development in the near future. My learning and understanding about sustainable
tourism suggest that it is tourism that takes full account of the future and presents social,
environmental and economic impacts while addressing the key requirements of the industry,
visitors, host communities and the environment. Apart from this, I would like to talk about
the food chain because in marine life also this exists on a very large scale (Farjana, Huda,
Mahmud, & Lang, 2018). Thus, depleting and disturbing life in Great Barrier Reef in
Australia will certainly affect the food chain within oceans. Hence, in my opinion, important
entities such as people, government agencies, societies, marine authorities, must work for

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preserving the coral reef so that future generations can also visit and enjoy the life in GBRA
(Great Barrier Reef, 2020).
In addition to that, I found that the chosen destination is home to the fishes and other
ocean animals that offer food or livelihoods (Sorensen, Marcotullio, & Grant, 2017). Besides,
this coral reef provides seafood for nearly 100 million people in Australia. In addition, more
than half of all marine species usually spend an important part of their life cycle in coral reefs
and hence the GBRA needs to be protected, sustained and preserved for all (Taylor, 2020).
Also, it is important to know that the coral reef is not only providing money, but it is a home
to marine life and thereby offers a great number of jobs to numerous Australians. Apart from
this, my study suggests that the great barrier reef of Australia generates billions of dollars
with the help of tourism for pharmaceutical as well as other industries. In this way, I would
like to say that while the reef adds to the national economy, it is keeping the whole nation
running like an efficient and continuous machine (UNESCO, 2020).
Source: (Higgins, 2018)
I have also studied the condition of tourism in Australia with the help pf the current
state of coral reefs as explained in the above graph. It has been seen that there is some major
disturbance that is hindering the life and habitat in GBRA such as natural dictators, human
disturbances and many more (Farjana, Huda, Mahmud, & Lang, 2018). The graph is clearly

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depicting that the resilience of the reef is very strong hence allowing the reef to recover soon
yet the likelihood of recovery of the coral reef may decrease if the number of such
disturbances hikes. My study regarding the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is suggesting that
climate change is affecting the coral bleaching there and hence pollution is greatly affecting
the reef (Edgell, 2016). Furthermore, local overexploitation is also preventing reefs from
recovering death and damage to aquatic animals. I believe that there must be groups and
organizations which can work for addressing the challenges by the GBRA from the
sustainable tourism perspective. In this context, I found that CORAL is such a group that
typically works and collaborated with the other groups, activists and organizations as well
(Budeanu, Miller, Moscardo, & Ooi, 2016). The aforementioned group is dedicated to finding
the best possible efficient methods of coral reef conservation in Australia. I have studied and
thereby found that such conservation groups strive for sustainable solutions for further
managing coral reefs which center on a well-structured plan. To me, some possible solutions
for minimizing and stopping gigantic bleaching are included clean water, healthy fisheries,
enhanced collaboration and improved research (Britannica, 2020). While learning about
Great Barrier Reef, I got to know that CORAL is having a purpose of establishing sustainable
and effective management of reefs which can profit the reef as well as the whole Australian
community with the help of informed research and development (Bass & Dalal-Clayton,
2012).
In this way, my research and reflection about Great Barrier Reef can be sum up with
the eco-friendly ways of visiting the GBRA as follows:
 By snapping and saving the GBRA (Britannica, 2020).
 By channelling the inner Robinson Crusoe
 By helping study manta rays on Lady Elliot Island
 By lazing in eco-luxury on Lizard Island
 By revelling in the coral reef’s beauty (Aragon-Correa, Martin-Tapia, & de la Torre-
Ruiz, 2015).
Conclusion
In whole, I have found the key facts and needs of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
In this way, this reflection made me realized that GBRA is one of Australia’s remarkable
natural gifts. I also observed that the GBR is greatly blessed with the breathtaking diversity as

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well as the beauty of the coral reef. This reflective paper has successfully found that the
chosen tourist site as GBR typically contains a richness of marine life. In addition to that, I
would like to mention that this coral reef actually comprises thousands of individual reef
systems along with coral cays. Therefore, this coral reef in Australia needs to be preserved
and protected as per the theory of sustainable and responsible tourism for the sake of
hundreds of picturesque tropical islands comprising beautiful golden and sun-soaked natural
beaches for future tourists.

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References
Luiz , M., & Sanchez, A. V. (2018). Strategic Management in Tourism (3rd ed.).
Oxfordshire: CAB international .
Aragon-Correa, J. A., Martin-Tapia, I., & de la Torre-Ruiz, J. (2015). Sustainability issues
and hospitality and tourism firms’ strategies: Analytical review and future directions.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(3), 498-522.
Bass, S., & Dalal-Clayton, B. (2012). Sustainable development strategies: a resource book.
London: Routledge.
Britannica. (2020). Great Barrier Reef. Retrieved from Britannica:
https://www.britannica.com/place/Great-Barrier-Reef
Budeanu, A., Miller, G., Moscardo, G., & Ooi, C. (2016). Sustainable tourism, progress,
challenges and opportunities: an introduction. Journal of Cleaner Production, 111,
285-294.
Edgell, D. (2016). Managing sustainable tourism: A legacy for the future. UK: Routledge.
Farjana, S. H., Huda, N., Mahmud, M. P., & Lang, C. (2018). Towards sustainable TiO2
production: An investigation of environmental impacts of ilmenite and rutile
processing routes in Australia. Journal of cleaner production, 196, 1016-1025.
Great Barrier Reef. (2020). Welcome to the Great Barrier Reef. Retrieved from Great Barrier
Reef: https://greatbarrierreef.org/
Higgins, F. (2018). Sustainable tourism: Sustaining tourism or something more?. Tourism
management perspectives, 25, 157-160.
IGI Global. (2017). From Tangible Heritage to Intangible Heritage: Dimensions of the
Cultural Tourism. Retrieved 2017, from https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/from-
tangible-heritage-to-intangible-heritage/176257
Kaygusuz, K. (2012). Energy for sustainable development: A case of developing countries.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(2), 1116-1126.

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Lozano, M., & Blancas, F. (2019). Sustainable tourism tags to reward destination
management. Journal of environmental management, 250, 109458.
Lu, Y., Nakicenovic, N., Visbeck, M., & Stevance, A. (2015). Five priorities for the UN
sustainable development goals. Nature, 520(7548), 432-433.
Pearce, D., Barbier, E., & Markandya, A. (2013). Sustainable development: economics and
environment in the Third World. LOndon: Routlegde.
Queensland. (2020). Great Barrier Reef. Retrieved from Queensland:
https://www.queensland.com/en-au/explore-queensland/great-barrier-reef
Sorensen, A., Marcotullio, P., & Grant, J. (2017). Towards Sustainable Cities. UK:
Routledge.
Taylor, J. (2020). GUIDE TO THE GREAT BARRIER REEF. Retrieved from Australia:
https://www.australia.com/en-in/places/cairns-and-surrounds/guide-to-the-great-
barrier-reef.html?cid=paid-search|in|SYD798|brand|Google|||Plan%20-%20Location
%20-%20Specific%20|||||||
&ef_id=EAIaIQobChMI457uvKza5wIVkRaPCh35nwdOEAAYASAAEgLD9fD_Bw
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UNESCO. (2020). Great Barrier Reef. Retrieved from UNESCO:
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/154/