Tourism Development in the Great Barrier Reef

The article discusses the potential of tourism development in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. It covers the business sector, community, and PESTLE analysis for sustainable growth. The Great Barrier Reef is a significant place for the tourism industry, and the plan for the initiation of the resorts and hotels will be significantly profitable. The community will get the benefits as the generation of employment will take place, and that will significantly increase the economic development along with the way of living of the people in that region.

Running head: TOURISM DEVELOPMENT
Operating in the Great Barrier Reef
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction:
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the largest coral reef system present in the world and
is a significant place for the tourism industry. The reef is located in the sea coats of
Queensland, Australia and observed to incorporate 900 islands and 2900 separate reefs
(Gbrmpa.gov.au 2018). In addition to this, the Whitsunday is a significant place with
approximately 74 islands and an area of 282 kilometres (Wttc.org 2018). The spaces has
significant amount of environmental treasures which is legally protected from the year 1975
with the formation of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) by the
government of Australia. The tourism industry is observed to have a significant rise in the
Australian regions and the amount of coastal treasures that the concerned place is having is a
major reason behind the consideration of the place as one of preferable spots for the booming
tourism industry in Australia. The choices for the media will be the Courier Mail. The paper
is focused in specifying the tourism overview associated with Great Barrier Coral Reef.
Business Sector:
The chosen business sector in the tourism industry is the hotels and resorts sector. In
the mentioned coral reef, the tourism is expected to expand in a significant manner and as the
place is significantly new and full of natural coastal treasures, the plan for the initiation of the
resorts and hotels will be significantly profitable (Mason 2015). The opportunity for the
marine tourism will be significant for a fruitful business establishment in the hotels and
resorts sector.
Community:
It is observed that the people of Australia is significantly preferring the coastal
destinations for their vacations and the activities like the beachcombing, fishing, whale
watching, boating along with the beautiful views of the location from the resort is attracting

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the tourists all over the world (Spalding et al. 2017). For the Whitsundays, the government of
Australia is planning to improve the infrastructure of that region in order to make it more
attractive for the tourists and the target market for the same will be the tourists of entire world
with specific focus on the Chinese people (Ecotourism.org.au. 2018). Apart from that the
government is significantly focused in increasing the fluency of the international flights to the
Whitsunday Coast Airport (Ecotourism.org.au. 2018). The government was considering the
scope of increasing the promotional activities of the region as well. The tourism in the
Whitsunday is significantly contributing to the economy of the Australia as the Tourism and
Major Event Minister, Kate Jones was able to show that it generated 8.1, 5 and 2.5 billion
dollars for the local economy of Brisbane, Gold Coast and North Queensland respectively in
the financial year 2016 (Prd.com.au. 2018).
The place is able to acquire the attraction of more than 1.9 million tourists and the
number is only increasing which provides the proof that the resorts and the hotel business
will be a viable option and will be subjected to rapid growth as well (Gbrmpa.gov.au 2018).
The Great Barrier Coral Reef system is observed to generate 64000 jobs in the region
(Gbrmpa.gov.au 2018). The impact of the tourism in the region was proving to be significant
as notable amount of the employment was generated and the numbers are only increasing.
With the plan for the hotels and resorts opening, the community will get the benefits as again
the generation of the employment will take place and that will significantly increase the
economic development along with the way of living of the people in that region.
PESTLE Analysis:
The tourism plans in the reefs is significantly supported by the Australian government
and the only concern of the government is the protection of the environment and the natural
elements. The governing authority, GBRMPA, has implemented strong legislative framework

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for the business conducting organisations in the great barrier coral reef which considers the
protection of the environment and the maintenance of the ecological balance as the top most
priority. Apart from this, in order to make sure that the environmental protection is in place
for the great barrier coral reef, an amount in the name of Environmental Management Charge
(EMC), is charged from every tourist by the GBRMPA. The tourism business in the region is
significantly contributing to the Australian economy as well as it is observed to contribute an
approximate sum of 5 billion Australian dollars per year (Finance.gov.au 2018). It is
observed that the costing of one night in the hotels of that region will be approximately 487
to 682 Australian Dollar. Hence the plan of opening the resort and hotel business in that
region will be a profitable option.
Conclusion:
The major consideration for the future sustainability of the tourism business in that
region will be the improvement in the strategies to fight against the significant amount
climate change, decrement in the quality of the water and the increasing amount of wastages
in the coast. The lines of communication among the GBRMPA and the tourism organizations
need to improve in order to cope up with the above mentioned adverse challenges.

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References:
Ecotourism.org.au. (2018). [online] Available at:
https://www.ecotourism.org.au/assets/Resources-Hub-Destination-Management-Plans/
Whitsundays-Destination-Tourism-Plan-Final-low-res-November2014.pdf
Finance.gov.au. 2018. Department of Finance |. [online] Available at:
https://www.finance.gov.au/
Gbrmpa.gov.au. 2018. GBRMPA. [online] Available at: http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/
Mason, P., 2015. Tourism impacts, planning and management. Routledge.
Prd.com.au. (2018). New data reveals value of tourism to the Whitsundays economy. [online]
Available at: https://www.prd.com.au/whitsunday/news/new-data-reveals-value-tourism-
whitsundays-economy/
Spalding, M., Burke, L., Wood, S.A., Ashpole, J., Hutchison, J. and zu Ermgassen, P., 2017.
Mapping the global value and distribution of coral reef tourism. Marine Policy, 82, pp.104-
113.
Wttc.org. 2018. World Travel & Tourism Council. [online] Available at:
https://www.wttc.org/