HAT202 - Hospitality and Tourism Market in the Great Barrier Reef

This report examines the hospitality and tourism market in the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands, focusing on the role and prosperity of tour operators in the region. It highlights the strong and diverse economy driven by tourism, construction, agriculture, and mining, supported by significant infrastructure development. The report includes a PESTLE analysis, assessing the political support, ecological considerations, social environment, and legal aspects affecting the tourism industry. It concludes that the tour operator profession is promising but recommends enhanced security measures to ensure tourist safety and further business prosperity. The study also references the importance of maintaining the ecological beauty and cleanliness of the Whitsunday Islands while attracting both local and international tourists. Desklib provides similar past papers and solved assignments for students.

Running head: THE HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM MARKET
The Hospitality and Tourism Market
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1THE HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM MARKET
Lead sentence
The profession of Tour operator in Whitsunday is highly prosperous. Let’s have a look!
Introduction
The chief role of a tour operator is to combine tour as well as travel components in order
to create a packaged holiday. Tour operators advertise as well as produce brochures for
promoting their products, itineraries and holidays. The business of a tour operator is highly
prosperous in the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Island due to its unique natural
properties. In his article the importance of the tour operator to the mentioned community through
jobs, economic development and tourism and the customer segments the business segment
services.
Discussion
The Great Barrier Reef and the 74 Whitsunday Islands possesses a strong as well as
diverse economy driven by construction, agriculture, mining as well as tourism industry. This
region possesses the potential to become the powerhouse of North Queensland. With over 36
billion dollars in major projects under construction, the mentioned region can be considered as
an inviting investment environment. The strong economy, well-planned infrastructure and
desirable lifestyle open a huge job opportunity for the tourism industry, tour operator being one
of them. Currently the total number of residents of the mentioned region is 34,784, while the
total number of jobs in the region is as high as 15,805, tour operator being one of the popular
ones (Whitsunday Regional Council 2018).

2THE HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM MARKET
In order to understand the macro environment of the tour operator profession, in the bellow
paragraph the PESTLE analysis of the Great Barrier Reef and the magnificent 74 Whitsunday
Islands has been conducted:
Political: The government of Queensland is highly supportive towards the tourist industry. This
will be highly beneficial for the mentioned region. Due to lower rate of taxes, the barrier for new
investment has gone down. As a result, several investors are investing financially to enhance the
beauty of the Great Barrier Reef and the magnificent 74 Whitsunday (Ball, Bryant and Mau
2018).
Ecological: Considering the fact that tourism may destroy the cleanliness as well as scenic
beauty of the Whitsunday Islands, national parks, the government has implemented strict rules in
order to protect them. In order to maintain cleanliness several areas like riparian and sandy
beaches are protected for their ecological as well as scenic beauty. However, tourists are allowed
to enter there and thus this factor has not imposed negative impact on the business of tourism
operators in the region.
Social: The residents of the Whitsunday Island are highly welcoming. The friendly gesture of the
residents makes it easier for the tour operators to attract both local as well as international
tourists at the barrier reef and Whit Sunday islands (Barker 2014). Besides that, the mentioned
region is ideal for both the solitude seekers who love to roam in a secluded island with
magnificent scenic beauty as well as to the social fun seekers who love to party.
Legal: one of the major loopholes of the legal factor is the lack of security in the mentioned area.
The government needs to implement strategies enhance the security of the tourists.
Conclusion and recommendation

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From the above discussion it can be concluded that the profession of tour operator is
highly promising in the Great Barrier Reef and the 74 Whitsunday Islands. However, in order to
enhance the prosperity of the business, the following recommendation for security needs to
follow by the government as well as the tour operators:
 $250,000 towards scientific research into shark prevalence and behaviour in Cid Harbour;
 Maintaining Cid Harbour as a no-swim zone until that assessment is complete;
 A high-profile education campaign to immediately educate locals as well as visitors about
shark safety (Statements.qld.gov.au. 2018).
 Development of a broader SharkWISE education campaign, similar to the successful
CrocWISE campaign running in North Queensland; and
 Continue to meet with industry stakeholders and experts to develop and progress
responses.

4THE HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM MARKET
Reference List
Ball, D., Bryant, S.L. and Mau, R., 2018. The interplay between tourism and conservation on
islands. Australian Island Arks: Conservation, Management and Opportunities, p.165.
Barker, B., 2014. Use and continuity in the customary marine tenure of the Whitsunday Islands.
Sydney University Press.’
Gooch, M., Dale, A., Marshall, N. and Vella, K., 2018. Assessing the human dimensions of the
Great Barrier Reef: A Mackay-Whitsunday Region focus.
Statements.qld.gov.au 2018. Five-point plan to improve safety on Whitsunday waters. [online]
Statements.qld.gov.au. Available at: http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2018/11/9/fivepoint-
plan-to-improve-safety-on-whitsunday-waters [Accessed 8 Dec. 2018].
Whitsunday Regional Council 2018. Summary - Whitsunday - Whitsunday Regional Council.
[online] Economyprofile.com.au. Available at: https://www.economyprofile.com.au/whitsunday
[Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].