Eco-Tourism Opportunities: A Business Plan for Great Barrier Reef

This essay presents a business plan for an eco-tourism venture in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, emphasizing sustainability and environmental awareness. The plan focuses on providing attractive tourism packages, including sightseeing of the WhitSunday Islands, glass-bottom viewing, walks around the Great Barrier Marine Reef, and snorkeling options. The business aims to capitalize on the region's popularity, attracting over 2.4 million visitors annually, while addressing the impact of climate change on the coral reef ecosystem. The plan includes a PESTEL analysis, highlighting the favorable political and economic environment, the use of modern technology for promotion, and strategies to mitigate environmental threats. It also focuses on generating employment for the local population and spreading awareness about the importance of preserving the Great Barrier Reef. The business intends to advertise through various channels, including television and social media, seeking support from the Australian government and tourism ministry.

Running head: ECO-TOURISM IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
ECO-TOURISM IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
Name of student:
Name of university:
Author note:

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ECO-TOURISM IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
Introduction summary

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ECO-TOURISM IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
Introductory summary
The Great Barrier Reef is considered to be Australia’s top tourism attraction and its
subsumed under the World-Heritage list for being the largest coral reef ecosystem in the
world. The reef spans for more than 2,300 kilometres beginning from the northernmost part
of Queensland the southern part of the coastal town in Bundaberg (Tourismandmore.com
2018). The WhitSunday Islands are known for its group of islands located in the heart of
Queensland, Australia. My aim is to establish an eco-tourism business that would provide
attractive package for the teeming visitors. For the business initiative I would approach the
Sydney Morning Herald as a communication and print partner.
Main body
The Great Barrier Reef provides a spectacular view for tourists all over the world.
Recently, the government of Australia has initiated a long-term plan for the sustainability of
the Great Barrier Reef (Coghlan 2012). The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park covers 3444, 000
sq. km and comprises of 2,900 coral reefs, 300 coral cays, seagrass beds, 600 continental
islands and numerous mangrove islands (Abascal, Fluker and Jiang 2016). All these makes
the Great Barrier Reef Park, the ideal spot for embarking on a eco-tourism business. My
entrepreneurial venture would be to provide an ecotourism package that would comprise of
sightseeing of the WhitSunday Islands, glass-bottom-viewing, walks around the Great Barrier
Marine Reef and snorkelling options. It has been found that more 80 per cent of the different
activities related to tourism occurs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Spencer 2016).
The motivation behind beginning with this business venture is to spread awareness about the
impact of climate change on one of the most prized coral eco-systems in the world. The
region has recorded a footfall of more than 2.4 million visitors that contributes to $3.1 billion
to the economy of the country (Australia.com 2018). Given the low rate of employment in the

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region, the local tourists will incorporated in the business by acting guides for the visitors in
educating about the Great Barrier Reef.
PESTEL analysis of eco-tourism in the Great Barrier Reef
The political environment of Australia is appropriate for the operation of eco-tourism
primarily because Australia is not known for infiltration and conflict that may jeopardize the
business. As has been discussed earlier that the Great Barrier Reef attracts tourists round the
year, therefore, the economic environment for the growth of the business is quite promising
(Great Barrier Reef 2018). The eco-tourism package would generate employment for the
large number of unemployed people (Authority 2014). Modern technology and social media
networks would be used extensively for the promotion and advertising. On the environmental
aspect, there is threat due to the decline in the condition of the coral reef system. The
ecotourism business will be promoted vigorously through the incorporation of a number of
interesting package like the family package or special package for the honeymoon couple.
During occasions on the National Day, Valentine’s Day and Christmas there will be attractive
offers that would attract more visitors. I will request the Australian government to help us in
spreading the eco-tourism message of the business.
Conclusion
Ecotourism is an emerging tourism opportunity and keeping in mind the diversity of
flora, fauna and natural endowments, I expect the business to do well. I would continuously
make endeavours to thrive the interest about my business prospect by adopting innovative
approach. I intend to advertise on television by incorporating the local celebrities and seek
the support of the Australian Tourism ministry.

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References
Abascal, T.E., Fluker, M. and Jiang, M., 2016. Domestic demand for Indigenous tourism in
Australia: understanding intention to participate. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 24(8-9),
pp.1350-1368.
Australia.com. 2018. The Great Barrier Reef, Queensland - Tourism Australia. [online]
Available at: https://www.australia.com/en-ie/places/great-barrier-reef.html [Accessed 7 Apr.
2018].
Authority, G.B.R.M.P., 2014. Great barrier reef outlook report 2014.
Coghlan, A., 2012. Facilitating reef tourism management through an innovative importance-
performance analysis method. Tourism Management, 33(4), pp.767-775. Bunce, L.,
Economics, D.A., 2013. Economic contribution of the Great Barrier Reef.
Great Barrier Reef. 2018. Experiences in the region - Great Barrier Reef. [online] Available
at: http://www.greatbarrierreef.org/reef-experiences/ [Accessed 7 Apr. 2018].
Spencer, Ashley, (2016.). Tourists Are Flocking to the Great Barrier Reef Because It ....
[online] Available at: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/78k7eg/tourists-are-
flocking-to-the-great-barrier-reef-because-its-dying [Accessed 2018].
Tourismandmore.com. 2018. Educational Tourism | Tourism & MoreTourism & More.
[online] Available at: http://www.tourismandmore.com/tidbits/educational-tourism/
[Accessed 12 Apr. 2018].