Visitor Behavior and Management.

Running head: VISITOR BEHAVIOUR AND MANAGEMENT
VISITOR BEHAVIOUR AND MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The main objective of this report will be providing at least two recommendations using the
visitor motivation theory who visits the iconic destination of the Great Barrier Reef. This will
help them to help them in gaining the competitiveness for the long term process and to safeguard
the location from carious threats. The unique selling points of this destination will be discussed
in this paper along with identification of major stakeholders who take responsibility for
promotion and management of the destination’s sustainability. Three chief objectives for
travellers to visit this place will be laid in this report along with identification of the
environmental issues that impacts the destination’s success in being able to gain the attraction of
more tourists in the long term process. The chief rival destination of this place will also be
identified along with the analysis of this selected destination in the context of strengths and
weaknesses in order to attract the visitors. At last, at least two recommendations will be provided
to prosper the Great Barrier Reef for long term purpose along with maintaining and increasing
the number of visitors who are visiting this destination currently.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Overview of the Destination............................................................................................................3
Motives to Visit this Place...............................................................................................................4
Environmental Issue........................................................................................................................5
Main Competitive Destination.........................................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The main aim of this paper will be to two provide at least two recommendations using the
visitor motivation theory who visits the iconic destination of the Great Barrier Reef presently,
and to maintain that number of visitors by following these recommended steps. This will also
help to protect this place from various threats including environmental threats that are adversely
affecting this destination. The main competitor destination is Wakatobi National Park, which will
also be analysed through the strengths and weaknesses for attracting visitors. The recommended
actions will help to prosper the Great Barrier Reef for long term purpose along with maintaining
and increasing the number of visitors who are visiting this destination currently. A brief
conclusion involving the summary of the paper will end the discussion of this paper.
Overview of the Destination
As discussed, the identified destination is the Great Barrier Reef. It can be stated in this
context that this is the largest coral reef present across the world. The reef is created by involving
more than 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands, which extends for more than 2,300 km. The
reef is located in the Coral Sea, beside the cost of Queensland. It can also be regarded in this
context that this is the one and only biggest structure that is made by the help of living organisms
and can be viewed from the outer space. This is also identified as one of the World Heritage
Sites from the region of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is also regarded as one of the most
significant natural presents to Australia, which has the blessing of the incredible beauty of the
largest coral reef of the planet. This reef comprises of a plenty of marine animals and plants and
consists of more than three thousand separate reef systems and coral isles. It also has numerous

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tropical scenic islands having the most amazing golden sun-soaked beaches of the globe
(greatbarrierreef.org, 2020).
Government of Queensland and Australia look after this iconic destination where
thousands of visitors from across the world visit every year. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Authority or GBRMPA is the body who is engaged in protection as well as the promotion of the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and World Heritage Area (Teq.queensland.com, 2020). This
authority provides permission apart from prohibiting the activities that help to assure the long-
term protection of this place along with using the area that will be ecologically sustainable use.
They efficiently understands the importance of this area and follows necessary actions which
helps all the people from Australian communities along with other people across the world to
visit and enjoy the beauty of this place.
The GBRMPA also work in partnerships with other stakeholders in order to offer Master Reef
Guides, High Standard Tourism, Eye on the Reef Programs and Reef Guardian School through
the development and care taken to safeguard this marine park (The Conversation, 2020).
Motives to Visit this Place
In terms of tourist destination, the Great Barrier Reef has become one of the most popular
and high demand sights across the world just due to its natural beauty. A tourist to the Great
Barrier Reef may enjoy a number of activities such as snorkelling, tours by aircraft or helicopter,
scuba diving, bare boats (self-sail), semi-submersibles and educational trips, glass-bottomed boat
viewing, cruise ship tours, watching the whales and swimming along with dolphins
(experienceoz.com.au, 2020). Thus, it can be said that to visit this natural wonder, there are also
three motives for which people across the world visits this iconic destination, which are provided
as follows:

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1. Diverse Marine Life – Apart from the corals, the reef also acts as the habitat to more
than 1,500 genres of fish, six of the seven species of threatened turtles throughout the
world, 134 species of sharks and rays and more than 30 species of marine mammals,
which includes dolphins, whales and endangered manatees. This is enough to attract
people all over the world and visit this iconic wonder with the added value
proposition of all these species of animals and fishes. It is the most complex and
uniquely diverse ecosystem across the whole world
(greatbarrierreeftourscairns.com.au, 2020).
2. Underwater exploration – There are various species of animals and fishes, the life of
which can be explored through swimming, scuba diving or submarine ride. This
provides a unique experience to the visitors across the world to enjoy a lifetime
experience in the underwater of the Great Barrier Reef. Submarines are mainly for
those who do not know swimming, and this initiative has also0 increased the number
of footfall in this iconic wonder (barrierreef.org, 2020).
3. Outdoor activities – Fishing, Snorkelling, Reef Cruise, Low Isles Sailing Cruise,
Scuba diving and lots of other outdoor activities can be done in the region of the
Great Barrier Reef. Performing numerous activities has made this place one of the
sough after place to be visited and enjoy the scenic beauty of the nature
(Australia.com, 2020).
Environmental Issue
Alterations in the climate can be treated as the greatest threat which is reducing the
existence of the reefs on regular basis. It can be stated in this context that future of this natural

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beauty is under threat, as most of the species of fishes and animals are getting endangered due to
this alterations in the climate along with overfishing in this place. Water pollution can also be
regarded as one of the major environmental issue that is hampering the beauty of the place. But
above, changes in the climate is considered to be the most threatening hazard to the Great Barrier
Reef, where higher temperatures in the ocean can lead to events like coral bleaching. In these
cases, algae are released by the corals which lives in their tissues. It can be noted that in the
recent El Nino event which occurred in the year of 2016 that has resulted in a large coral
bleaching throughout the extended reef areas, which resulted in losing the colour of the corals
and increased the chances of decolouration (bbc.com, 2020).
Main Competitive Destination
The main competitive destination that has been selected as the substitute of this
destination is the Wakatobi National Park. It is a marine natural park that is located in southeast
of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The main strength of this location is that it possesses a rich bio-diverse
underwater life, almost li9kew that of the Great Barrier Reef. The location is such that it is easy
to access from almost every nook and corner of the world. It also consists of four islands which
are big in size. But the main weakness of this destination is the absence of the biggest coral reef
system which is possessed by the Great Barrier Reef, though this park possesses 750 coral reef
species (allindonesiatravel.com, 2020). The local communities are also exploited by foreign
travellers, which has made the areas of coral reefs as no-take areas or zones, normally known as
marine protected areas. This also acts as one of the major weakness of the place, though the flora
and fauna are safeguarded by following this method.

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Recommendations
The fragile ecosystem that exists within this reef needs to be protected, which will help to
maintain the balance in the ecology of all the living beings that exist there. It can be noted that
more than two million travellers explore the Great Barrier Reef every year. The preservation is
mandatory not only for the region of Australia, but for the entire planet. In this context, it can be
stated that bleaching of corals is s major threat while considering the health of a reef because a
wide range of marine lives are solely dependent on a healthy reef system for their existence.
While the reef inhabitants perform an important role to maintain the health of the marine
ecosystem, the damage caused has already outcasted the speed of its natural repair and recovery.
Following recommended actions need to be followed by all the stakeholders who are associated
with this reef:
Entities involved in conservation of the diverse ecosystem possessed by the Great Barrier
reef need to be supported by all the people, especially the travellers who visit this place in large
numbers every year. Donations, paying visitor fees ethically and volunteering are some of the
recommended steps that can be followed by all the people who visits this place.
Education need to be provided to others regarding safeguarding the marine life present in
this reef along with the effects that can happen due to alterations in climate. This will help to
spread the awareness message to most number of people who visits this place (Hock et al.,
2017).
Reef etiquette need to be strictly followed while performing snorkelling and underwater
diving. This will also help to safeguard the diverse marine ecosystem present in this place
(Albright, Langdon & Anthony, 2013).

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Overfishing need to be controlled by all the stakeholders and strict actions need to be
taken who will not follow these rules. If required, fishing will be permanently stopped in the area
of this reef.
At last, three R’s, which are Recycle, Reduce and Reuse need to be followed wherever
and whenever possible. This will automatically help to overcome all the challenges which
hampers the ecological balance in the Great Barrier Reef (Beeden et al., 2015).
Conclusion
From all the above discussion, it can be concluded that it has become essential to
safeguard the Great Barrier Reef from all kinds of factors that can occur in this world to harm
this iconic destination. Though there is another destination in the name of Wakatobi National
Park, still the importance or attraction of visiting the Great Barrier Reef do not falls short. In
order to safeguard this place, recommended steps has been provided which need to be followed
strictly, Implementation of the recommended steps need to be done by the stakeholders who are
engaged with this reef, which will help to prevent the most complex and diverse marine
ecosystem of the world.

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References
Albright, R., Langdon, C., & Anthony, K. R. N. (2013). Dynamics of seawater carbonate
chemistry, production, and calcification of a coral reef flat, central Great Barrier
Reef. Biogeosciences Discussions, 10(5), 7641-7676.
Beeden, R., Maynard, J., Puotinen, M., Marshall, P., Dryden, J., Goldberg, J., & Williams, G.
(2015). Impacts and recovery from severe tropical Cyclone Yasi on the Great Barrier
Reef. PloS one, 10(4).
Great Barrier Reef | Australia's Great Natural Wonder. (2020). Retrieved 24 March 2020, from
https://greatbarrierreef.org/
Great Barrier Reef Stakeholders. Teq.queensland.com. (2020). Retrieved 18 March 2020, from
https://teq.queensland.com/industry-resources/the-great-barrier-reef/great-barrier-reef-
stakeholders.
Guide to Diving Wakatobi National Park, Sulawesi | Indonesia Travel Guide. (2020). Retrieved
24 March 2020, from https://allindonesiatravel.com/diving-wakatobi-national-park-
sulawesi/
Guide to the Great Barrier Reef - Tourism Australia. Australia.com. (2020). Retrieved 18 March
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Hock, K., Wolff, N. H., Ortiz, J. C., Condie, S. A., Anthony, K. R., Blackwell, P. G., & Mumby,
P. J. (2017). Connectivity and systemic resilience of the Great Barrier Reef. PLoS
biology, 15(11).
Is this the future of underwater exploration?. (2020). Retrieved 24 March 2020, from
http://www.bbc.com/travel/bespoke/is-this-the-future-of-underwater-exploration/
Survey: two-thirds of Great Barrier Reef tourists want to 'see it before it's gone'. The
Conversation. (2020). Retrieved 18 March 2020, from
https://theconversation.com/survey-two-thirds-of-great-barrier-reef-tourists-want-to-see-
it-before-its-gone-62103.
Threats to the Reef. Great Barrier Reef Foundation. (2020). Retrieved 18 March 2020, from
https://www.barrierreef.org/the-reef/threats.
Top 10 Things to Do in the Great Barrier Reef | Experience Oz + NZ. (2020). Retrieved 24
March 2020, from https://www.experienceoz.com.au/en/things-to-do-in-the-barrier-reef
Top 5 Things to Do in the Great Barrier Reef. (2020). Retrieved 24 March 2020, from
https://greatbarrierreeftourscairns.com.au/blog/top-5-things-to-do-in-the-great-barrier-
reef/