Eden Project: PEST Analysis of Tourism and Sustainability Efforts

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Eden Project, an educational charity and popular tourist attraction in Cornwall, England. It begins with an introduction to the Eden Project, highlighting its role in connecting people with the natural world and its appeal as a visitor destination. The report then explores how the Eden Project improves sustainability by integrating it into its mission, policies, and operational practices. A PEST (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological) analysis is conducted to identify the external factors influencing the business, including the impact of political stability, Brexit, currency exchange rates, and economic conditions on visitor numbers and funding. The analysis also covers the Eden Project's role as a tourist destination and its efforts to promote environmental awareness and education. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and their implications for the Eden Project's future sustainability and success.

The Eden project
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
Eden Project as an attraction............................................................................................................5
Eden project is improving their sustainability.................................................................................7
PEST analysis for the Eden Project.................................................................................................8
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11
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Figure 1 Eden project.......................................................................................................................5
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Introduction
Eden project is an educational charity which does the work of connecting people with one
another as well as the living world so as to analyze how all can work together for a better future
that supports the life of future generations in the best possible manner (Bowie and et.al., 2016).
It is also a visitor destination that is present in a huge crater and houses largest rainforest in
captivity along with stunning plants, family events, exhibitions so as to attract tourists from all
over the world (Sites and et.al., 2016). But still Eden project is s part of world tourism hence
there is a presence of many factors that affect its overall working thereby putting an impact on its
future sustainability plans. Keeping this in mind, the present report deals with carrying out a
PEST analysis of Eden project so as to identify the external factors that are affecting the business
so as to move in forward direction. Emphasis has also been given on presenting a brief overview
about Eden project as an attraction followed by assessing how it improves the overall
sustainability.
Eden Project as an attraction
Figure 1 Eden project
(Source: Eden project)
Eden project which is an acronym for European Destination of Excellence has been regarded as a
popular tourist attraction in Cornwall England. It has a presence of plants that have been
collected from diverse climates as well as environment in a crater which is 30 football pitches in
size. It is largest networks of destination in Europe that promises towards provision of real
experiences, discoveries as well as encounters related to nature. It has been dubbed as eight
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wonder of the globe and has been recognized as Best Leisure attraction in running five years of
United Kingdom by British Travel awards. Eden is not just an epic destination but also acts as a
gateway to relation between plants and people and further offers fascinating insight into
dependence of mankind on life of plants (Zeidler and et.al., 2017). Eden is not just acting as a
tourist attraction but also as a unique resource for education and gaining knowledge towards a
sustainable future. In Eden one can experience the sight, smell as well as scale of rainforests
from rainforest biome, can gain a look of orange and lemon trees from South Africa and
California followed by olive groves that are present in Mediterranean biome. There is further a
presence of 30 acre of outdoor garden that has a presence of plants such as hemp, sunflower
among others. It further offers various kinds of themed events as well as activities to school
going children that acts as a huge source of entertainment for them. There is further a presence of
rainforest canopy walkway where a person can climb over the tree tops and get a bird’s eye view
of the forests. It has further been revealed by chief executive of Eden project being Gordon Sea
bright that the fabulous gardens as well as themed events held in the place are ensuring towards a
healthy rise in terms of attracting thousands of consumers to come and have a wonderful
experience (Eden Project is most popular attraction in South West, 2017). It is further a place to
tell hundreds of stories about what is the exact connection between plants as well as people.
Other than this the connections also range from cocoa to coffee, paper and wine to brewing as
well as perfume. Eden Project is thus a family friendly place that has a presence of various other
facilities like restaurants, cafes, gift shops as well as child and baby friendly facilities that are
well equipped (Bowie and et.al., 2016).
It further offers access to wheelchairs for older people as well as buggies moreover; dogs are
also welcomed in the outdoor areas of the site. All this attractions as well as facilities have made
Eden project as the busiest attraction in South West. The Cornish center has further attracted
more than a million visitors in 2016 as per statistics revealed by Visit Britain. It is the first time
since the year 2011 that the place has received such a huge visitor number (Eden Project is most
popular attraction in South West, 2017). It has further been researched that the place received
around 2 million visitors in the very first year of opening and the project has now been regarded
as top 3 attractions of UK and the 2nd most visited destination outside London (Sites and et.al.,
2016). It has further became world famous on account of the presence of its stunning structure
and the wonder in terms of content offerings. Overall it can be said that Eden project has been as
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a tourist destination and a place of attraction is there to create beauty as well as memory. It
further aids in stirring of emotions and tell stories related to global issues so that a learning
atmosphere can be provided to people so that they can look after the planet as well as each other.
Eden project is improving their sustainability
Eden project is a social enterprise that focuses on the fact that carrying out business activities can
work along with bringing an improvement in the environment, livelihood of people as well. The
very mission of Eden project is to connect people with one another as well as the living world.
Sustainability is thus at the heart of Eden project and is a major part of the project that is hoped
to be conveyed by the team. Hence the management focuses on ensuring that sustainability is
embedded in whatever is being done by Eden be it in its mission statement or policies. It further
follows a consistent approach to sustainability in all the areas of its operation. There is further an
identification of socioeconomic as well as environmental measures of sustainability that helps in
improving the overall approach undertaken by the company (Bowie and et.al., 2016).
Sustainability is also seen in overall behavior of Eden which focuses on developing those
projects that explore the alternatives to energy production through fossil fuel. Eden project is
thus sustainable in various ways as it has led towards the development of a viable future by
helping people to learn as well as promote the vital relations that are there between plants, people
as well as other resources. The success of the project has further been made possible by
involving in a socio economic partnership on people as well as institutions that are committed
towards it (Zeidler and et.al., 2017).
Tim Smith who is the founder of Eden project further believes that sustainability is all about
adopting good business practices as well as citizenship values of the future. In this regard,
sustainability approach revolves around three areas being people, project and planet. The firm
further believes that sustainability is all about people being the employees who bring a positive
change and assist in sustainability to take place (Williams and et.al., 2015). Hence sustainability
of Eden can occur only when there is a presence of healthy and happy workforce who supports
the business in the best possible manner. In the same way sustainability in terms of planet is that
it provides us with all the needed resources and vital services for free. Hence it is our duty to
look after the planet and focus on bringing a reduction in carbon footprint. Eden project has
further done this by making an introduction to paperless ticket system that works entirely on
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mobiles. It thus allows the visitors to put an order, purchase as well as redeem tickets through the
usage of mobile phones thereby making a reduction in overall usage of paper. Then comes profit
which ensures that business economics are stacked up and are in line with the core business
values. The case study has further revealed that Eden project was able to record a steady growth
in the financial year being 2015 to 2016 and it continues to remain profitable as well as
sustainable in present times as well (Sites and et.al., 2016).
PEST analysis for the Eden Project
Political factors - There is a presence of stable political environment in United Kingdom as well
as Cornwell region where Eden project is based. Moreover, the local political environment is
such that it supports the process of tourism in the best possible manner. This has thus given
positive signs for the overall growth prospects of Eden with respect to consumer visits. The
project has further been supported by many political figures such as Queen to prime minister so
as to promote the overall stability and future sustainability in its operations. In terms of funding,
Eden project is supported by the European Social Fund of the European Union on an
international level. On the other hand, the national level support is given from the funds rendered
by UK Department for International Development (Donald and et.al., 2016). Other than this,
Eden project also gets support on local level through Cornwall Council. It is all because of local,
national as well as international support that Eden project is able to sustain its operational model
by gaining a variety of grants for procurement of resource, marketing and promotional activities
followed by gaining more visibility as well as brand recognition (Bowie and et.al., 2016).
But the recent Brexit issue has impacted the overall process of funding as Cornwell area fears to
lose funding after backing out from Brexit. The region was supposed to get funds of 2.5 billion
between the years 2000 to 2020 out of which some amount was there for Eden project as well
(Zeidler and et.al., 2017). But as 56 percent of its people favored of leaving the European Union
hence funding amount is likely to get affected. In a recent example, Eden project wanted to
exploit the rocks beneath it as a part of geothermal plan but has failed to win the funding of EU.
It further got cash strapped in the year 2013 and started asking for funds from Regional Growth
Fund (RGF) so as to come out of the difficult times that are being faced by the company (Sites
and et.al., 2016). Overall it can be said that presence of a political stability has put a positive
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effect on the operations of Eden project but funding issues still remain on account of Brexit issue
as well as internal problems being faced by the company.
Economic factors– There is a presence of many economic factors that are putting an impact on
operations of Eden project in many ways. One factor that is affecting its operations is the
currency exchange rate of Great Britain pound which puts an impact on the visitors who are
coming from abroad. However, on a positive note, the brexit issue has put an increase in flow of
tourists to the nation but Eden project has still been least visited destination in the year 2017
although it had a presence of more than a million visitors (Zeidler and et.al., 2017). As the
currency rate fall down due to brexit issue, the visitors were willing to pay more for the entrance
fee being charged. But the overall entrance fee charged at Eden project is more than other tourist
destinations which is somewhere affecting the visitors’ number at the spot. But on a positive end,
Eden project is making a huge contribution to overall economic conditions of Cornwall and is
now regarded as one of the national treasures. Unemployment rate in UK is also increasing
which is also impacting the overall consumer spending. Hence on economic front, there is a
presence of good tourists coming to UK on account of fall in value of pound but high entrance
fees at Eden project, increasing unemployment rate is making local visitors a bit negative about
paying visit to Eden project.
Social factors – As per recent statistical studies, there is an increase in growth of UK population
which has resulted in demographic changes. Majority of UK population lies between 15 to 64
years which is excellent in terms of age variety for paying a visit to Eden project. This increasing
population can put an impact on the overall operational processes of Eden project as it will be
easy for the tourist spot to attract large number of visitors in the coming future that will put an
impact on the overall sales figure as well. Besides this, an another social factor is language and
English in spoken in Eden project which decreases the risk of international tourists to have doubts
on visiting the destination on account of language barrier (Bowie and et.al., 2016). Also there is a
growing consumer interest in the Eden project as it has laid a huge importance on sustainability
and ecological concerns. This strategy has positively impacted the visit of tourist to the destination.
Moreover the presence of creative efforts taken at Eden project has also attracted the flow of tourist
in large numbers. For example, the launch of light and sound festival in December 2016 increased
tourists flow to 20000 during the holiday season. Moreover, the presence of Eden led project aimed
at bringing communities together was attended by 7.3 million people (Zeidler and et.al., 2017).
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The company due to its sustainability efforts as well as other social attractions has recorded
towards significant profit in the fourth year in a row. There has further been an increase in turnover
as well as visitor number on account of above mentioned reasons (Annual and sustainability
reports, 2017).
Technology factors - A high amount of technological innovation can be seen at Eden project as a
lot of architects, engineers as well as suppliers have worked together to keep environmental
impact of the building at the lowest possible level. This is in form of super insulation, lowering
of energy consumption, reducing usage of water and light among others. It has further
incorporated technology in managing its media relations as well by the development of an
advanced form of customer relationship management (CRM) which has aided in centralizing
visit view and also improved the overall communication with them. It has further planned to use
integrated booking system so as to manage the admissions, membership status, carrying out fund
raising activities. It has further adopted technological advancement by implementing a
virtualization system on the servers that can be refreshed by the use of developing technology. It
has further utilized technological up gradations in ticket system so as to offer a complete
automated as well as paperless advanced ticketing system (Zeidler and et.al., 2017).
Conclusion
From the above report it can be concluded that Eden project is a renowned tourist destination in
the world that is one of the most visited places in UK. This is on account of the real experiences,
discoveries as well as encounters related to nature provided by it. But there is a presence of many
factors that has been affecting the operations and future sustainability plans of the project. These
have put a positive as well as negative impact on its overall working. The need here is to work on
the negative impacts so that it can keep on attracting visitors for a long period of time.
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References
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<http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2017-08-04/eden-project-is-most-popular-
attraction-in-south-west/> [Accessed on 17th December 2017].
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Williams, S.J. and et.al., 2015. Botanic gardens can positively influence visitors’ environmental
attitudes. Biodiversity and conservation. 24(7). pp.1609-1620.
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Zeidler, C. and et.al., 2017. The EDEN ISS Antarctic Greenhouse Project-Final Design and
Outcome of the Assembly, Integration and Testing Phase. In Proceedings of the
International Astronautical Congress, IAC.
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