Visitor Behavior in Snowy Mountains of Australia

This report analyzes the potential and viability of tourism in the snowy mountains of Australia, including reasons for tourists to visit, stakeholders analysis, challenges and issues, competitors analysis, and recommendations.

Running head: VISITOR BEHAVIOR
VISITOR BEHAVIOR
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Abstract
Tourism could be demonstrated as one of the most fast growing industry in the
present world today. People are getting more fond of travel with the passage of time. Young
people are getting attracted to all kinds of events all around the globe for while they are
traveling. This is boosting the industry and also helping it achieve the desired amount of
revenue. This report specifically analyzes the potential and viability of tourism in the snowy
mountains of Australia. The report summarizes the government as the most important
stakeholder in the scenario and also suggests sales promotional activities to be taken up by
tourism agencies concerning the region to successfully compete with the Great Barrier Reef.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Reasons for tourists to pay a visit..........................................................................................3
Stakeholders analysis.............................................................................................................4
Challenges and issues.............................................................................................................5
Competitors analysis..............................................................................................................6
Recommendations..................................................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Tourism is all about knowing the destination and reaching out to the potential visitors
with reasons to make the destination appeal to them. Psychological factors play the most
important part in the business of tourism, since the preferred destination of the tourists also
depend on their wants and needs in their lives (Manson, 2015). This report would be aiming
at doing an analysis of tourism in the snowy mountains of Australia. The snowy mountains of
Australia, also known as the snowies, is the highest mountain range in Australia and a
popular tourist attraction for the number of leisure activities and scenic beauty which the
location provides to the tourists in the destination (Australia.gov.au, 2019). The discussion in
the report will include identification of the three main reasons for the people to visit the
destination, a stakeholders analysis, a competitors analysis and an environmental analysis.
Discussion
Reasons for tourists to pay a visit
To identify the three main reasons for which the tourists will be interested in paying a
visit to the location, it is important to apply the tourist motivation theory to the given
scenario. The theory of tourist motivation suggests that motivation involves those factors
which urge a tourist to satiate the needs and wants of the tourist. It is the integration of
cultural and biological forces which gives value to a destination in the minds of a tourist to
pay a visit to that place. The theory suggests that tourists decide on destination based on their
needs, which are referred to as motives. There are two kinds of motives, which are tension
reducing motives, in which people simply decide on a destination which subsides their
psychological stresses, and arousal seeking motives in which tourists’ motives are influenced
by activities which he or she wants to perform in order to bring his motives down to
equilibrium.

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Accordingly, the three main reasons for tourists to pay a visit to the place is because
firstly, the place provides for a perfect scenic beauty, and the high altitude and low
population, coupled with the fact that nature has been left unadulterated in the region. This is
a perfect package for any tourist to explore the destination to meet his or her tension reducing
motives. Secondly, activities such as hiking, camping and skiing are popular activities across
the range, which act as the motivation for tourists to try the place out, especially during
winters, when these activities are performed widely and traditionally. Thirdly, the place is
widely popular in the mainland of Australia, with thousands of tourists paying a visit each
year to the place. This works as an arousal seeking motive too for people who have never
visited the place, and want to fill the chills of the highest altitudes of Australia (König, 2018).
Stakeholders analysis
The key stakeholders in this scenario are as follows:
The tourists.
The travel/tourism agency
The government of Australia
The advertising agencies who promote the destination.
Accordingly, using the stakeholders grid to analyse the importance of each stakeholder
signifies the fact that without the tourists, the sustainability of the tourism in the snowies will
not be a possibility.
The tourism agencies concerning the destination are in numbers, and hence, one tourism
agency is of an average importance.

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Government policies and funding to improve the place is a necessity, which means that
without their support, tourism in the region can even go extinct (Heslinga, Groote, &
Vanclay, 2017).
Advertising agencies promote the region, without whom tourism would be low in the area.
Hence, putting the stakeholders in their grids, the analysis can be summed up as the following
stakeholders matrix:
Government (Most important) Advertising agencies (must be addressed for
proper promotion of the place)
Tourism agency (Least important) Tourists (should be convinced and their
needs should be addressed)
Fig. 1 Stakeholders matrix
Source: As created by author
Challenges and issues
The ethical concern which might be considered is the fact that tourism has been
increasing in the region in the recent years, and the threat of pollution in the region is
increasing. If necessary measures are not taken, the government might impose laws in the
region to protect it from pollution, which could further diminish the demand for tourism in
the region.
Social issues in this place includes the native population in the mountain ranges of the
snowies. The increasing tourism in the region poses a high threat to their integrity and

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security. An escalation of this issue could cut down the tourism rates in the region (Carr,
Ruhanen, & Whitford, 2016).
Competitors analysis
The top competitor which can pose direct competition to the snowy mountains of
Australia, is the Great Barrier Reef.
The strength of this destination in terms of tourism is that this location is easily
accessible and does not require a bigger budget than touring in the snowies. Also the fact that
this destination provides a soothing climate throughout the year, and also provides for
arousing seeking motives like scuba diving, and tension reducing motives like the scenic
beauty of the place (Hughes, Day & Brodie, 2015).
The weakness however, is that the activities which the destination offers, is far less
versatile than what the snowies offer, ranging from exploring national parks, hiking skiing
and camping.
Recommendations
Following is the list of recommendations for tourism in the area:
 Tourists should be informed about keeping the region clean under all
circumstances, to sustain the business in the region.
 Government should be requested to fund the maintenance of the region
further, explaining the potential of the revenue. This is because of the
impressive tourism business in the recent years (Valadkhani, & O'Mahony,
2018).
 Tourism agencies should frequently practice sales promotional tactics for the
purpose of attracting more visitors in the place.

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 Advertising and promotion should be based on the uniqueness of the place and
arouse interesting motives in the minds of the potential tourists, focusing on
the range of activities and the unmatched beauty of the place.
Conclusion
The Snowy Mountains of Australia is a fast growing tourist spot in the country,
offering a range of activities to the visitors. Tourism can sustain in the region, keeping the
government at the top of the stakeholders matrix, since they are responsible and capable of
developing and promoting the area in the best way possible. The region faces serious threats
to its tourism business from the Great Barrier Reef, which has significant strengths over the
high altitude destination. Some recommendations therefore include practicing sales
promotion to attract tourists, and requesting the government to invest in the area, keeping the
potential of revenues from tourism in the region in mind.

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References
Australia.gov.au. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.australia.gov.au/
Carr, A., Ruhanen, L., & Whitford, M. (2016). Indigenous peoples and tourism: the
challenges and opportunities for sustainable tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism,
24(8-9), 1067-1079.
Heslinga, J., Groote, P., & Vanclay, F. (2017). Strengthening governance processes to
improve benefit-sharing from tourism in protected areas by using stakeholder
analysis. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1-15.
Hughes, T. P., Day, J. C., & Brodie, J. (2015). Securing the future of the Great Barrier Reef.
Nature Climate Change, 5(6), 508.
König, U. (2018). Climate change and snow tourism in Australia. Geographica Helvetica,
54(3), 147-157.
Mason, P. (2015). Tourism impacts, planning and management. Routledge.
Valadkhani, A., & O'Mahony, B. (2018). Identifying structural changes and regime switching
in growing and declining inbound tourism markets in Australia. Current Issues in
Tourism, 21(3), 277-300.

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1.