tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/tourism-australia-4377/articlesTourism Australia – The Conversation2021-09-15T06:42:47Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1678792021-09-15T06:42:47Z2021-09-15T06:42:47ZCan Queensland cash in on the NRL finals? It’s all about ‘event leveraging’<p>Queensland’s love of rugby league, and the fact the state isn’t in lockdown, has won it the right to host the 2021 NRL finals series. </p>
<p>But it was economic gains as much as love of the game that Premier Annastacia Pałaszczuk spruiked when announcing Queensland would host all eight finals games plus the grand final at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. Six of those games are being played outside Brisbane — two in Townsville, two in Mackay, and one apiece in Rockhampton and Sunshine Coast.</p>
<p>“It’s a tremendous gesture from the NRL and will provide an economic boost spread over our regional cities,” Pałaszczuk <a href="https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/93155">said in a statement</a>. Her minister for sport, Stirling Hinchliffe, was even more effusive. “It will invest millions of dollars into local economies and boost intra-state tourism into regional Queensland cities,” he said.</p>
<p>But will it? </p>
<h2>Uncertain gains</h2>
<p>Research shows that hosting sport and other events rarely delivers the economic and tourism benefits commonly claimed. In fact, studies around large-scale events often fail to show any positive economic impact at all. </p>
<p>The financial hangover from hosting events such as the Olympics is well-documented. It took Montreal 30 years to pay off the debt incurred from hosting the 1976 Olympic Games. The 2004 Athens and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games also failed spectacularly to deliver on their promises of economic benefit. </p>
<p>The Olympics, though, is in a league of its own, due to the scale of competition, sheer number of venues required and being a one-off. </p>
<p>Hosting a seasonal sporting event using existing infrastructure should be of greater economic value. The outlays aren’t anywhere near as much, and local hotels, restaurants and other businesses get a boost from the influx of sport tourists.</p>
<p>The problem is that this year’s NRL finals won’t see thousands of footy fans flying from interstate and injecting money into local economies through transport, accommodation, dining and other touristy activities. </p>
<p>So Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton and Sunshine Coast may benefit from intrastate visitors, but perhaps not to the extent of the promised millions.</p>
<p>Rockhampton Regional Council, for example, has estimated the economic value of the September 12 elimination final between Parramatta Eels and the Newcastle Knights to be $680,000, with about a quarter of the 5,000 spectators from outside the region. That estimate depends on assumptions about those visitors spending money on accommodation, and all spectators spending money on local retail and in hospitality businesses.</p>
<h2>Event leveraging</h2>
<p>So how does an economic return occur from hosting smaller-scale events like the NRL finals? </p>
<p>The answer is “event leveraging”. It is not enough just to hold an event; organisers must implement strategies to achieve the benefits touted — encouraging visitors to spend more, and using the occasion to promote the host area as a tourism destination.</p>
<p>For example, French towns and regions that attract Tour de France fans <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2020/09/01/why-this-tour-de-france-is-one-of-the-most-important-ever/?sh=5d307d0c10b7">use event-themed activities</a> to keep visitors around longer. </p>
<p>Spreading the NRL finals games between Brisbane and four regional centres can also be seen as a leveraging strategy — spreading any economic benefits more evenly throughout the state — particularly to areas hit hard by the loss of international and interstate tourism. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/footy-crowds-what-the-afl-and-nrl-need-to-turn-sport-into-show-business-139471">Footy crowds: what the AFL and NRL need to turn sport into show business</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Media exposure</h2>
<p>This also helps what is, given closed borders, the even more important component for Queensland to leverage the NRL finals: media attention that showcases the host region as a future place to visit.</p>
<p>During the Sydney 2000 Olympics, for example, a program encouraged media organisations to cover tourism destinations such as the Blue Mountains and Uluru, by providing visiting journalists with video <a href="https://library.olympics.com/default/digitalCollection/DigitalCollectionInlineDownloadHandler.ashx?parentDocumentId=176158&documentId=176163&_cb=20201101172943">and other resources</a></p>
<p>Even with the more modest NRL, media attention isn’t just confined to the hours before, during and after the actual games. There is an intensive industry generating content in the days leading up to game, and in the wash-up. </p>
<p>This occurs through general media coverage and the well-developed communications channels of the NRL and its respective clubs. Now players also cultivate their own audiences through social media. Melbourne Storm star Cameron Munster, for example, has <a href="https://www.instagram.com/munster94/?hl=en">158,000 followers on Instagram</a>.</p>
<p>The biggest audiences, though, come from game broadcasts. These typically are replete with aerial shots of the ground and other imagery showcasing the host city. </p>
<p>Queensland’s premier and minister for sport must therefore be relieved the NRL has rescheduled the preliminary final (at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane), originally set to coincide with the AFL grand final on September 25. One of the teams in that preliminary final is Melbourne Storm. The broadcast would have denied the NRL, and Queensland, thousands of television viewers.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nrls-unrivalled-equality-means-back-to-back-premierships-are-very-rare-92666">The NRL’s unrivalled equality means back-to-back premierships are very rare</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So the NRL finals should provide some immediate economic benefit to the host cities and towns, though perhaps not as much as the Queensland government would like to think. They also provide a great opportunity to promote regional Queensland as a tourist destination to interstate audiences. </p>
<p>But without the time to implement strategies to really leverage these events, the extent of economic benefits that will flow to Queensland in the longer term is hard to estimate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167879/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research shows that hosting sport and other events rarely deliver the economic and tourism benefits commonly attributed to them.Sheranne Fairley, Associate professor, The University of QueenslandDanny O'Brien, Associate Professor, Sport Management, Bond UniversityVitor Sobral, PhD candidate, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1585632021-05-27T02:29:17Z2021-05-27T02:29:17Z‘More than a word’: practising reconciliation through Indigenous knowledge-sharing in tourism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393931/original/file-20210408-23-6itsfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C327%2C2540%2C1433&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bart Pigram, Yawuru owner/operator of Narlijia Experiences Broome, WA, out on Country with visitors.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bart Pigram</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>We acknowledge the Bininj, Larrakia, Noongar, Ngarluma, Yindjibarndi and Yawuru peoples as the Traditional Owners of Country where this article, and our research, was conducted and written, and we pay our respects to Elders past and present.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>In a reconciled Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, histories and cultures are recognised and valued as part of our shared national identity. In the 2021 <a href="https://www.reconciliation.org.au/state-of-reconciliation-2021/">State of Reconciliation in Australia</a> report, Bundjalung woman Karen Mundine (CEO of Reconciliation Australia) says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Reconciliation cannot just be about raising awareness and knowledge. The skills and knowledge gained should motivate us to ‘braver’ action.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The 2020 <a href="https://www.reconciliation.org.au/australian-reconciliation-barometer-2020/">reconciliation barometer survey</a> revealed we are at a tipping point in our nation’s reconciliation journey, with public support for reconciliation higher than ever. It is time to take tangible steps to walk together towards a more fair, equitable and sustainable nation. </p>
<p>However, many of us don’t quite know how. Too often, we are afraid of not “getting it right”, of not being able to do enough. We may feel paralysed, not knowing how to move forward. It may seem safer to not act at all.</p>
<p>Actual reconciliation is not a box-ticking exercise. It requires individuals and communities to have meaningful and shared visions of places and relationships.</p>
<p>To do this, we need to increase the visibility and recognition of Indigenous people as knowledge holders, as co-author Warumungu Luritja woman Dr Tracy Woodroffe explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My strength, and the strength of Indigenous people, is in who we are at the core. The core is our Indigenous knowledge. It is the foundation for our strength of character and our Indigenous perspectives are a uniting force.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Engaging in Indigenous tourism is one way to experience meaningful connections and hear stories of Indigenous perspectives. There are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tourism operators across the country who are ready take visitors on a learning journey into the world’s oldest living culture.</p>
<h2>How we can avoid “reconciliation paralysis”?</h2>
<p>As Australia opens up, many people are taking the opportunity to “tour our own backyard”. In a time when we cannot travel overseas, many are rekindling their curiosity for local places. Who better to guide us than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have intimate knowledge of this country and of the cultures that have sustained it – and been sustained by it – over millennia?</p>
<p>Aboriginal tourism operators are keen to meet visitors and share their knowledge of their Country and its stories, as Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi man Clinton Walker (<a href="https://www.ngurrangga.com.au/">Ngurrangga Tours</a> in Karratha, WA) says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I got into tourism so that I could preserve this knowledge and pass it on and teach others about it so that future generations can enjoy it too.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNM4JopDiRm","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Participating in Aboriginal tourism is an accessible and enjoyable option. There are <a href="https://www.welcometocountry.com/">many ways to get involved</a>, including guided nature walks, four-wheel drive tag-along tours, cooking classes, visiting art galleries, and being entertained by storytelling under the stars, as Noongar woman Marissa Verma, (<a href="https://www.bindibindidreaming.com.au/">Bindi Bindi Dreaming</a> in Perth) says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Business is fun and can take you anywhere and everywhere. I love what I do! </p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CFwRcWUju8C/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>We don’t even need to travel very far, as Njaki Njaki Nyoongar man Mick Hayden (<a href="https://www.njakinjaki.com.au/">Njaki Njaki Aboriginal Cultural Tours</a> in Merredin, WA) says: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I want to try to get across to the locals, come and know a little bit about your own backyard before you go elsewhere.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394963/original/file-20210414-19-5yi1m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394963/original/file-20210414-19-5yi1m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394963/original/file-20210414-19-5yi1m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394963/original/file-20210414-19-5yi1m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394963/original/file-20210414-19-5yi1m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394963/original/file-20210414-19-5yi1m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394963/original/file-20210414-19-5yi1m0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mick Hayden, Njaki Njaki Aboriginal Cultural Tours, Merredin, WA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These activities are not mere entertainment. We argue they are precisely the types of actions required for us to experience reconciliation in practice.</p>
<p>It can take courage to leave our comfort zones and connect in this way, hence the theme for <a href="https://www.reconciliation.org.au/more-than-a-word/">National Reconciliation Week 2021</a>: “More than a word: Reconciliation takes action”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CMyea1yAMne","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>“We are reconciliators”</h2>
<p>Our recently published research <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669582.2021.1903908">“We are reconciliators”: When Indigenous tourism begins with agency</a> shows how Aboriginal tourism operators from Western Australia and the Northern Territory have experience in three key elements of tourism: hosting, connecting and sharing. </p>
<p>Hosting is the act of creating culturally safe spaces for interactions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Connecting is the practice of establishing common ground with visitors. And sharing involves stories of culture, people and places.</p>
<p>These aspects of Indigenous tourism proceed from the agency, or self-determination, of operators, as Whadjuk Nyungar woman Kerry-Ann Winmar (<a href="https://nyungartours.com.au/">Nyungar Tours</a> in Perth) describes: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We want to share our own culture. We want to tell our own story our own way.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CGqg_vin_eh","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Showing up and supporting Aboriginal people and their businesses is a part of reconciling, as Yawuru man Bart Pigram (<a href="https://www.toursbroome.com.au/">Narlijia Experiences</a> in Broome, WA) says in a powerful call to action:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I believe that reconciliation – because it’s about people coming together – I believe that we need to do it. Politicians don’t need to do it and sign a paper, each and every one of us need to do it. This is our lifestyle. That’s why I said, ‘we are reconciliators’, because that’s how we get paid, by practising reconciliation, not by talking about it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CBw_TA0jRnn","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Learning and unlearning</h2>
<p>However, it is important Indigenous Australians are not left to bear the responsibility for reconciling. Reconciliation must be a reciprocal process. It requires non-Indigenous Australians to learn about and reflect on the stories of Indigenous cultures and peoples, and of our shared Australian history. </p>
<p>It also requires taking responsibility for so-called “<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajs4.106">white ignorance</a>” and unlearning prejudices which may not be easily seen. </p>
<p>We need to be mindful that National Reconciliation Week can be challenging for Indigenous Australians because of the mental strain of attention being called to how much change is still needed. </p>
<p>The required change is not only about shifting individual attitudes or biases — systemic change is also needed. This is the difficulty. When systems “work” for the non-Indigenous majority, there is an underlying reluctance towards change. This can be seen in the inertia in decolonising the Australian education system. However, there is a way forward.</p>
<h2>Indigenous voices can change Australian education for the better</h2>
<p>There is much to be gained by listening to Indigenous voices. Indigenous voices, and an Indigenous standpoint, provide an opportunity to consider perceived problems holistically by identifying inadequacies in systems. </p>
<p>Then we can focus on what change is required to meet the needs of people. We need to begin with education and developing our workforces to be <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1177180120929688">confident in engaging and working with Indigenous people and communities</a>.</p>
<p>Reconciliation is a two-way process. <a href="https://ulurustatement.org/">The Uluru Statement from the Heart</a> calls on Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike to:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Indigenous tourism operators are agents of reconciliation. They are showing us what reconciled interactions can look like. Through acting as educators and sharing their cultural, environmental and social knowledge and values with their visitors, they bring reconciliation into the present.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CMnu8FgJO17","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p><em>We are grateful to Aboriginal tourism operators Bart Pigram, Clinton Walker, Kerry-Ann Winmar, Marissa Verma, Mick Hayden and Roland Burrunali for sharing their stories with us. We appreciate their generosity in helping us to understand more about their Country and culture.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Bird receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Indigenous Languages and Arts Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Curtin, Ruth Wallace, and Tracy Woodroffe do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2021 is ‘More than a word: reconciliation takes action’. Engaging with Aboriginal knowledges is a way to pursue reconciliation as more than a buzzword.Nicole Curtin, PhD Candidate, Charles Darwin UniversitySteven Bird, Professor, Charles Darwin UniversityTracy Woodroffe, Lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges, Charles Darwin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1293472020-01-06T23:38:55Z2020-01-06T23:38:55ZKoalas are the face of Australian tourism. What now after the fires?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308553/original/file-20200106-11900-1thpynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1092%2C298%2C2581%2C1563&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Koalas have long featured in tourism ads, including this new one from Tourism Australia. Amid our bushfire crisis, this digital ad has been 'paused'.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tourism Australia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1936, <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/201215302?searchTerm=Koala%20as%20tourist%20attraction&searchLimits=">The Evening News in Rockhampton wrote</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The time has arrived when Australians must decide whether or not they will accept responsibility for the perpetuation of the koala […] </p>
<p>It seems extraordinary that this animal which is so greatly admired, not only by overseas visitors, but by Australians, is being allowed to suffer extinction. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The preservation of the koala was not talked about so much in environmentalist terms: instead, the koala was seen as a crucial icon of Australian identity and tourism.</p>
<p>The earliest picture postcard featuring a koala I have found was postmarked 1903, and it has been a mainstay of tourism advertising ever since.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308571/original/file-20200106-11924-1ltd9in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308571/original/file-20200106-11924-1ltd9in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308571/original/file-20200106-11924-1ltd9in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308571/original/file-20200106-11924-1ltd9in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308571/original/file-20200106-11924-1ltd9in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308571/original/file-20200106-11924-1ltd9in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308571/original/file-20200106-11924-1ltd9in.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1903 postcard featuring a ‘native bear’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the latest ad from Tourism Australia, the koala has been recruited, <a href="https://twitter.com/Australia/status/1209852669281669122">once again, to market Australia</a>, starring alongside Kylie Minogue, chilling in a graceful eucalyptus on Sydney Harbour. </p>
<p>But amid Australia’s ongoing bush fire crisis, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/out-of-respect-kylie-minogue-matesong-tourism-australia-ad-pulled-amid-bushfire-coverage-20200103-p53opl.html">airing of the digital ad has been “paused”</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/27/australias-environment-minister-says-up-to-30-of-koalas-killed-in-nsw-mid-north-coast-fires">Up to 30% of the koala population</a> from the NSW mid-north coast is expected to be lost in the fires, alongside <a href="https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/kangaroo-island-bushfire-pristine-wildlife-including-koalas-dunnarts-feared-lost/news-story/9a5cbde8e5e4643a93035d12110204e9">50% of the koalas on Kangaroo Island</a> – the last remaining wild population not infected by deadly chlamydia. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1213871949715296256"}"></div></p>
<p>Eighty four years on from the Evening News’ story, we are still talking about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/world/australia/koala-fires-functionally-extinct.html">the possible extinction of koalas</a>, our national tourism icon. </p>
<h2>The creation of an icon</h2>
<p>Koalas were exhibited at Melbourne Zoo from 1861 and at Taronga Zoo from 1914. But at the same time, koalas were hunted ruthlessly for fur <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.99382.x">throughout much of the 19th century</a>. This practice only came to a halt at the end of the 1920s.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308547/original/file-20200106-11951-18jub17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308547/original/file-20200106-11951-18jub17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308547/original/file-20200106-11951-18jub17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308547/original/file-20200106-11951-18jub17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=790&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308547/original/file-20200106-11951-18jub17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=992&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308547/original/file-20200106-11951-18jub17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=992&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308547/original/file-20200106-11951-18jub17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=992&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The original 1933 publication of Blinky Bill.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Trove</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By the 1930s, three koala-themed wildlife parks – the Koala Park in Pennant Hills, Sydney, Lone Pine Koala Park on the Brisbane River and the Adelaide Snake Park and Koala Farm – had opened for business. </p>
<p>1933 saw the publication of Dorothy Wall’s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1455149.Blinky_Bill?from_search=true&qid=8noWFQRKGJ&rank=1">Blinky Bill</a>. Zoologist Ellis Troughton’s book <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furred_Animals_of_Australia">Furred Animals of Australia</a> (1931) and natural historian Charles Barrett, with <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Koala-Story-Australias-Native-Bear/dp/1440495815">Koala: The Story of the Native Bear</a> (1937), also influenced public attitudes towards the native animal. </p>
<p>In 1934, <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28019823?searchTerm=Koala%20Park%20an%20Australian%20sanctuary&searchLimits=l-title=35">the Sydney Morning Herald called</a> the koala “Australia’s national pet”. </p>
<p>Perhaps most famously, it was the star of a <a href="https://360.advertisingweek.com/why-does-this-koala-hate-qantas-airways">Qantas advertising campaign</a> from 1967 to 1992. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308564/original/file-20200106-11914-z4zsrq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308564/original/file-20200106-11914-z4zsrq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308564/original/file-20200106-11914-z4zsrq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308564/original/file-20200106-11914-z4zsrq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308564/original/file-20200106-11914-z4zsrq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308564/original/file-20200106-11914-z4zsrq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308564/original/file-20200106-11914-z4zsrq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1981 Qantas advertisement, published in American magazines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Qantas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The loss of a tourism icon</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.savethekoala.com/sites/savethekoala.com/files/uploads/Conrad%202014%20The%20Economic%20Value%20of%20the%20Koala%5B2%5D.pdf">2014 study</a> suggests koala tourism could now be worth as much as A$3.2 billion to the Australian economy and account for up to 30,000 jobs.</p>
<p>In 2020, Australia has 68 zoos and wildlife parks exhibiting just under 900 koalas. A photograph with a koala is a must-have souvenir for many international tourists.</p>
<p>But it is impossible to look at Kylie hanging out with her koala mates without bringing to mind the shocking images of badly burned koalas and other wildlife as the devastating wild fires destroy millions of hectares of bushland habitat. </p>
<p>The plump, relaxed, pampered koalas in the Tourism Australia ad are far removed from the horrific realities of fire. These catastrophic fires have compounded the threatening processes that already affect koala populations: habitat destruction and fragmentation, disease, car accidents and dog attack. </p>
<p>Recent research has shown koalas are also <a href="https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/import/downloads/fact_sheet_red_list_koala_v2.pdf">vulnerable to climate change</a> through changes in the nutritional status of eucalyptus leaves, excessively hot temperatures and these canopy-destroying wildfires.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/koalas-are-feeling-the-heat-and-we-need-to-make-some-tough-choices-to-save-our-furry-friends-61306">Koalas are feeling the heat, and we need to make some tough choices to save our furry friends</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A life beyond extinction?</h2>
<p>Australians have clearly shown they are willing to take action to protect the animal, with the <a href="https://10daily.com.au/news/australia/a191119bdupl/koala-bushfire-gofundme-second-most-successful-aussie-fundraiser-of-all-time-20191129">GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital</a> raising almost A$2 million. </p>
<p>The outpouring of emotion and financial support reflects the strong connection that Australians feel for the koala, formed out of the interplay of the animal’s baby-like features and its multitude of representations in popular culture, including, of course, tourism marketing. </p>
<p>Sadly, it is more than likely the koala will go on serving the national interest through its role in tourism even if it was to tragically <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-report-claims-koalas-are-functionally-extinct-but-what-does-that-mean-116665">go extinct</a> in the wild. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308583/original/file-20200106-11904-1ird5no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308583/original/file-20200106-11904-1ird5no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308583/original/file-20200106-11904-1ird5no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308583/original/file-20200106-11904-1ird5no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308583/original/file-20200106-11904-1ird5no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308583/original/file-20200106-11904-1ird5no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/308583/original/file-20200106-11904-1ird5no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Tourism Tasmania logo features the extinct thylacine.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most koala tourism is based on experiences with captive koalas. And extinction hasn’t been a problem elsewhere: Tasmanian Tourism uses a stylised image of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/tasmanian-tigers-were-going-extinct-before-we-pushed-them-over-the-edge-88947">thylacine</a> in its logo. </p>
<p>The long term survival of the koala ultimately rests with governments and their policies on forest clearing, fire management and climate change. </p>
<p>If future tourists to Australia are to experience the koala in the wild, it is imperative that governments act now to strengthen the protection of the species and most crucially, its habitat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129347/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Markwell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Koalas take a starring role in Australian tourism advertising – but what happens when our primary image of this animal is one of pain and destruction?Kevin Markwell, Professor in Tourism, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1159172019-04-29T04:30:12Z2019-04-29T04:30:12ZDingoes and humans were once friends. Separating them could be why they attack<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271371/original/file-20190429-194630-g4xwba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C33%2C5607%2C3699&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dingoes on K'Gari are the most genetically 'pure' in Australia.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Two small children were hospitalised in recent weeks after being attacked by dingoes on K'gari (Fraser Island).</p>
<p>The latest attack involved a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/19/toddler-rescued-after-dingo-drags-him-from-fraser-island-campsite">14-month-old</a> boy who was dragged from his family campervan by dingoes, an incident that could have ended with much more serious consequences than the injuries he sustained.</p>
<p>Fraser Island, famous for its wild dingo population, was <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-24/fraser-islands-national-park-renamed-kgari-paradise-aboriginal/8460808">renamed</a> K'Gari in 2017. And the number of tourists involved in negative interactions with dingoes appears to <a href="https://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/news/qpws-reveals-dingo-incidents-on-the-rise-at-fraser/3168428/">be increasing</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-dingoes-attack-people-and-how-can-we-prevent-it-100515">Why do dingoes attack people, and how can we prevent it?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The dingo, a wild dog of the <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/natural-history/Spirit-of-the-Wild-Dog-Lesley-J-Rogers-and-Gisela-Kaplan-9781865086736"><em>Canis</em></a> genus, were likely <a href="https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/mammals/dingo/">brought to Australia</a> by Asian seafarers around 4,000 years ago. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271376/original/file-20190429-194612-11fn6a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dingoes can be terrifying – but not when they’re puppies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While dingoes exist in many parts of Australia today, those on K’gari are thought to be “special” because of their <a href="https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2011/03/genetically-pure-dingoes-face-extinction/">genetic purity</a>. This means they have not interbred with wild and domestic dogs to the same extent mainland dingoes have, and so are considered the purest bred dingoes in Australia.</p>
<p>They are legally protected because of this special status, and because they live in a national park and World Heritage Area. Unfortunately, it is precisely this protection and separation from humans that has driven much of the increase in interaction and aggression towards people.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/like-cats-and-dogs-dingoes-can-keep-feral-cats-in-check-114748">Like cats and dogs: dingoes can keep feral cats in check</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This ongoing human-dingo conflict on K’Gari shows how our laws and management practices can actually increase negative encounters with wildlife when they don’t consider the history, ecology and social circumstances of the conflict area. </p>
<h2>Law and policy ‘naturalised’ dingoes</h2>
<p>The island’s laws and policies, such as the international <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/">World Heritage Convention</a> and the more local Fraser Island <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/pdf/dingo-management-strategy.pdf">Dingo Conservation and Risk Management Strategy</a>, are focused on conserving a particular human idea of “natural wilderness”. </p>
<p>In practice, this means the management policy focuses on “naturalising” the dingo by effectively separating them from people and the sources of food they bring. </p>
<p>But dingoes, although wild animals, have never effectively been naturalised on K’Gari, so our attempts to maintain their “natural” and “wild” status is not entirely accurate. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271369/original/file-20190429-194609-kd153d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">K'Gari (Fraser Island) is the largest sand island in the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dingoes have a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718517302312">long history</a> of being close with Aboriginal people. This human-dingo relationship continued as the island was used for mining and logging, as employees also lived with dingoes. They were fed by people, scavenged scraps from rubbish tips, and fed on leftover fish offal. </p>
<p>It is only in the last few decades we have sought to rewild dingoes by removing all forms of human-sourced food, separating them from human settlement.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/living-blanket-water-diviner-wild-pet-a-cultural-history-of-the-dingo-80189">Living blanket, water diviner, wild pet: a cultural history of the dingo</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Separating the animals from humans won’t work, however, when more than <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/pdf/dingo-management-strategy.pdf">400,000 tourists</a> visit K’Gari every year, expecting to see a dingo. </p>
<p>International law and local management prioritise tourism, and a tourism-based economy is certainly preferable to the logging and sand-mining economies that existed before the national park was given World Heritage status in 1992. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271367/original/file-20190429-194603-o2oap6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Be dingo safe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But are such large visitor numbers in a relatively small space sustainable? </p>
<p>This question has been asked <a href="http://research.usc.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/usc:17598">often</a>, including by the Queensland government in their <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/managing/plans-strategies/pdf/strategy-3.pdf">Great Sandy Region Management Plan</a>. </p>
<p>Yet, there has been no serious consideration given to reducing tourist numbers or increasing fees, despite <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.5367/te.2014.0388?journalCode=teua&">research suggesting</a> visitors are willing to sacrifice some access for improved environmental outcomes and less crowding. </p>
<p>Such proposals have been specifically rejected by decision-makers within the <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/pdf/dingo-management-strategy.pdf">Dingo Management Plan</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dingoes-do-bark-why-most-dingo-facts-you-think-you-know-are-wrong-68816">Dingoes do bark: why most dingo facts you think you know are wrong</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>So where does that leave us?</h2>
<p>We essentially have three options: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>if we wish to stick with the policy of dingo naturalisation and human separation, we must change our attitudes and values towards dingoes so people maintain an appropriate distance and do not inadvertently feed them. This can happen with education, fines and collaboration. While this is essentially what policies have attempted so far, there has been little effect on overall incident numbers</p></li>
<li><p>we can take the naturalisation policy to its expected endpoint and completely separate tourists and dingoes. This may mean more fencing, greater fines and fewer annual visitors so rangers can educate and manage all visitors effectively</p></li>
<li><p>we can drastically reevaluate how we value wildlife and how we place ourselves within the natural world. This would see an enormous overhaul of the regulatory framework, and would also require a deeper understanding of all the causes of conflict, other than just the immediate issue of tourism, habituation and feeding. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>In practice, an effective dingo management policy would probably require a combination of all three options to maintain the pristine state of K’Gari, conserve the dingo population and improve human safety.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katie Woolaston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Management practices that don’t consider the history, ecology and social circumstances of dingo populations help drive their aggression towards people.Katie Woolaston, Lawyer, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/913122018-02-06T06:43:39Z2018-02-06T06:43:39ZThe smart strategy behind Tourism Australia’s ‘Croc Dundee’ Super Bowl pitch to the Americans<p>Tourism Australia has resurrected Crocodile Dundee in a new <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XltvwqBZIPc">superbowl commercial</a> that has <a href="http://www.adnews.com.au/news/fake-crocodile-dundee-ad-sees-tourism-australia-lead-super-bowl-charge">already reached hundreds of millions</a> on the day and through social media. Some may have <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-05/crocodile-dundee-ad-was-value-for-money-ciobo-says/9397614">cringed</a> at ad reinforcing stereotypes about Australians as hospitable bush-dwellers, but this is actually a good strategy. </p>
<p>Previous Tourism Australia campaigns have attempted to change Australia’s image, with results ranging <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14443058.2011.646284?src=recsys&journalCode=rjau20">from the lack-lustre to the disastrous</a>. </p>
<p>Unlike recent campaigns, the Super Bowl ad <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14443058.2011.646284?src=recsys&journalCode=rjau20">reflects international perceptions</a> of Australia. Icons like Paul Hogan and Steve Irwin enjoy good recognition in countries like the United States, so leaning into this image of Australia is a smart move. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XltvwqBZIPc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Australia has built up strong brand recognition in the US, albeit within the bounds of expectations largely cultivated by the advertising of the past, centred on beaches, bush and other all-too-familiar popular signifiers of Australia. Straying outside of these concepts hasn’t proven successful. </p>
<p>“<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/18/1084783517363.html">See Australia in a different light</a>” was a Tourism Australia campaign in 2004 that tried to emphasise other aspects of Australia than beaches and sunshine. This failed to convince tourists due to its unfamiliar, abstract image of Australia.</p>
<p>The 2009 “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQGMuxJ0vCc">Walkabout</a>” collaboration between Tourism Australia and Baz Luhrmann’s film, Australia, also disappointed. While “<a href="http://www.tourism.australia.com/en/about/our-campaigns/theres-nothing-like-australia.html">There’s nothing like Australia</a>” crowdsourced text and photos from Australians, but ended up being shaped into a well-worn mould by Tourism Australia. </p>
<p>On the other end of the spectrum, “Where the bloody hell are you?”, in 2006, with its note of desperation and rather too vernacular language, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-02-07/tourism-australia-looks-beyond-controversial/1036344">was a laughing stock</a>. </p>
<p>In the end, a national reputation is not something that can be demanded, only given by others.</p>
<p>Nation-branding expert Simon Anholt, on a visit to Australia in 2010, <a href="http://www.farmweekly.com.au/news/agriculture/agribusiness/general-news/australia-is-the-worlds-dumb-blonde/1968526.aspx">notoriously described</a> us as not to be taken seriously. He blamed tourism advertising for this view. </p>
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<p>The Super Bowl commercial is the highest-profile element in an <a href="http://www.adnews.com.au/news/how-tourism-australia-made-one-of-the-biggest-super-bowl-ads-of-2018">ongoing A$36 million campaign</a> focused on the United States. </p>
<p>According to Lisa Ronson, Chief Marketing Officer of Tourism Australia, the agency decided on the Super Bowl commercial as it would <a href="http://www.adnews.com.au/news/how-tourism-australia-made-one-of-the-biggest-super-bowl-ads-of-2018">reach more than 50% of the target market</a> - a “new generation” of American tourists. </p>
<p>Currently, inbound tourism from the US brings in around 780,000 visitors and A$3.7 billion to the Australian economy each year. Tourism Australia says it <a href="http://www.tourism.australia.com/content/dam/assets/document/1/6/x/g/m/2002918.pdf">wants to increase that</a> to more like A$5.5 billion per year by 2020. </p>
<h2>The start of brand building</h2>
<p>The current Tourism Australia campaign is just one part of an overarching federal government attempt at brand building in the United States.</p>
<p>For 15 years, Australian government entities (including Tourism Australia, DFAT and Austrade) have conducted an event in Los Angeles called “<a href="http://www.gdayusa.org/">G’Day USA</a>”. Like the Super Bowl commercial, this uses well-known Australian actors to engage in “<a href="http://www.gdayusa.org/about/">public diplomacy</a>”. </p>
<p>Another government initiative is Austrade’s “<a href="https://www.australiaunlimited.com/">Australia Unlimited</a>”. Launched in 2010, this seeks to tell stories about Australian businesses, technology, food and society.</p>
<p>But for Tourism Australia it is wise to avoid this conflict between the image of barbies, beaches, bush and marsupials; and the hard-nosed world of global trade. Leaning on the cultural cliche of Croc Dundee is a wise choice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Sinclair has received past funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Tourism Australia’s Super Bowl commercial is good strategy, reflecting familiar popular signifiers of Australia. Straying outside of these concepts hasn’t proven successful.John Sinclair, Professor of media and communications, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/714072017-01-19T19:06:54Z2017-01-19T19:06:54ZAustralia needs to invest if it wants the tourism boom to continue<p>Tourism has been the good news story for Australia’s economy over the past year. The latest numbers show <a href="http://www.tourism.australia.com/statistics/arrivals.aspx">8.2 million international tourists</a> visited Australia in the year to November. This is an 11.4% increase on the year before. Domestic tourism also grew 7% during this period. </p>
<p>Australia’s inbound tourism growth is almost triple the <a href="http://mkt.unwto.org/barometer">world average of 3.9%</a>. Much of this growth came from NE Asia and North America with China, South Korea, Japan and the USA among Australia’s fastest growing source markets.</p>
<p>There are a few reasons for this. Including a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-australian-dollar-is-weaker-as-geopolitical-concerns-mount-2017-1">lower Australian dollar</a>, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/flight-centre-issues-new-profit-warning-as-airfares-hit-record-lows-20161104-gsi2zc.html">record low airfares</a> and a <a href="http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/safety-and-security-is-australian-tourisms-main-strength-in-an-uncertain-world/news-story/897b93792b281b07c42cec024fa55c10">perception of safety</a> in an increasingly unsafe world.</p>
<p>But while tourism looks bright for Australia, this rapid growth has revealed underlying problems. There is a significant shortage of trained and qualified people to service the growing number of tourists, and infrastructure in parts of the industry has failed to keep up with tourism demand. </p>
<p>If Australia wants to continue enjoying the benefits of its tourism boom, it needs to address these issues.</p>
<h2>Skills</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.tra.gov.au/documents/Australian_Tourism_Labour_Force_FINAL.PDF">Tourism Australia report</a>, warned back in 2015 that there was a shortage of 38,000 people in all areas of the tourism industry. If there were no major policy changes this could blow out to over 120,000 people by 2020. </p>
<p>You may think that tourism is made up of unskilled jobs such as waiters, room cleaners, kitchen staff and bellhops. Important as these jobs are, the tourism industry requires people at all skill levels. These include airline pilots, tour guides, computer programmers and a myriad of other jobs. <a href="http://www.tra.gov.au/documents/Australian_Tourism_Labour_Force_FINAL.PDF">For every ten unskilled positions</a> there is also one at management and supervisory level. </p>
<p>Many of the 2,000 tourism businesses surveyed in the Tourism Australia research <a href="http://www.tra.gov.au/documents/Australian_Tourism_Labour_Force_FINAL.PDF">found it difficult</a> to recruit appropriately experienced or trained staff to fill vacancies. </p>
<p>The industry has addressed some of these issues by hiring or retaining more experienced employees, some of whom had come out of retirement. Many unskilled positions <a href="http://www.tra.gov.au/documents/Australian_Tourism_Labour_Force_FINAL.PDF">are being filled by foreign workers on 457 visas</a> and there is a high reliance on working holiday visa holders, especially for many of the industry’s seasonal jobs.</p>
<p>But there is an urgent need to upgrade and promote tourism and hospitality training at all levels of education. The TAFE sector, which has traditionally been a major source of vocational training, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/tafe-nsw-funding-to-be-cut-to-half-as-more-dollars-pushed-to-private-colleges-20151211-gllo5c.html">has seen its funding cut</a> by successive governments in recent years. TAFE’s place has been largely taken by high fee private colleges. However, <a href="https://www.studiesinaustralia.com/why-study-in-australia/international-students-in-australia">many of their students are international students</a> and a significant portion of them will take their new skills back to their home countries.</p>
<h2>Infrastructure</h2>
<p>There are three urgent infrastructure needs in the Australian tourism industry. </p>
<p>First, there is a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/property/marriott-international-hotel-group-to-call-more-of-australia-home-20161102-gsg9k6">shortage</a> of upmarket (4 & 5 star) hotel accommodation in Australia’s major gateway and business cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth). While the overall hotel occupancy rate for Australia is <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8635.0">about 65%</a> the occupancy rates for luxury and business hotels in these key cities is <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/tourism-hotel-outlook.html">closer to 90%</a>. This means during peak periods it is almost impossible to find a 4-5 star hotel room in a major CBD.</p>
<p>The shortage of upmarket accommodation has been a contributing factor to a <a href="https://www.tourism.australia.com/statistics/arrivals.aspx">stagnant</a> market in business travel to Australia. This is a stark contrast to the strong growth of holiday travel. </p>
<p>Second, according to Cruise Lines International Association the Australian cruise market has <a href="http://www.cruising.org/docs/default-source/research/2016_clia_sotci.pdf">grown more than six fold</a> in the past decade. This rapid growth has created a <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/sydneyports-bottleneck-stirs-up-a-storm/news-story/369cdfc58766cb976da5ead7cd9214f6">shortage of port facilities</a>, especially in Australia’s most popular cruise embarkation and destination port, Sydney. Unless Sydney is able to offer a third dedicated cruise terminal soon, growth opportunities will be limited.</p>
<p>Finally, a longer term issue is the glacial progress towards a high speed rail link between Brisbane and Melbourne via Sydney and Canberra. To date, Australia’s major airports have successfully managed the growth of international and domestic passenger numbers and new airline services. However, high speed rail could relieve pressure on airports. Australia has spent decades debating the pros and cons of high speed rail, while rail China <a href="https://qz.com/292321/china-is-on-track-to-build-high-speed-rail-in-just-about-every-corner-of-the-world/">builds 1,500 kms of track</a> every year. </p>
<h2>What to do about it</h2>
<p>Tourism is a balancing act between creating demand and ensuring the supply of both human resources and infrastructure. Clearly, there is still much to achieve to strike the balance. </p>
<p>The private sector is chipping away at the shortage of upmarket accommodation in Australia’s major cities, with <a href="https://www.accomnews.com.au/2016/11/room-boom-set-to-change-face-of-australian-hotel-sector/">several thousand</a> new hotel rooms due to come online over the next few years. However, unlike many of Australia’s neighbours, such as <a href="https://www.edb.gov.sg/content/edb/en/why-singapore/ready-to-invest/incentives-for-businesses.html">Singapore</a> and <a href="http://www.mida.gov.my/home/invest-in-malaysia/posts/">Malaysia</a>, Australia offers few development and investment incentives to develop accommodation.</p>
<p>Both federal and state governments need to invest more resources in promoting tourism careers, tourism education and training at both the vocational and higher education levels. This includes means-based assistance for young Australians to undertake training and education at nationally accredited training and educational institutions.</p>
<p>Tourism has been treated by Australian governments as a cash cow, with little investment. The fragmented nature of the industry has meant it has lacked the political clout of industries such as mining or agriculture.</p>
<p>As one of Australia’s fastest growing sectors, tourism is long overdue for a level of government investment which matches its contribution to economic growth and employment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71407/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Beirman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As Australia’s fastest growing economic sector, tourism is long overdue for a level of government investment which matches its contribution to economic growth and employment.David Beirman, Senior Lecturer, Tourism, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/111362012-12-04T03:29:35Z2012-12-04T03:29:35ZBy dumping Tourism Australia deal, Qantas hands a golden opportunity to Virgin<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/18308/original/fn6r6rsv-1354589355.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The same day tourism professionals gathered to hear a glowing report from Tourism Australia, Qantas dumped its promotional sponsorship with the national body.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>One week ago, two very different groups gathered in two different cities to talk about tourism.</p>
<p>In Sydney, more than 250 industry professionals were being briefed by Tourism Australia chief Andrew McEvoy, about the success of its “<a href="http://www.nothinglikeaustralia.com.au/index.htm">Nothing Like Australia</a>” campaign. </p>
<p>McEvoy’s news was positive. In the year ending September 2012, Australia received more than six million international visitors. While the growth in overall numbers was relatively modest, strong growth was being reported from China, a focal point for TA’s marketing push. </p>
<p>Although Australia ranked a relatively modest 42 in the world in terms of international visitor numbers, by income generated - $19 billion - it was ranked eighth in the world. In terms of per capita expenditure, Australia ranked first in the world, with each visitor spending an average of $6,300. </p>
<p>According to McEvoy, the deliberate targeting of long staying backpacker/working holiday visa visitors and short staying upmarket tourists was bearing fruit. At the meeting, several speakers at the briefing praised the role of Qantas as an iconic factor of private sector support for TA’s destination marketing.</p>
<p>But at the National Press Club in Canberra that same afternoon, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce was announcing to journalists Qantas would withdraw its $44 million worth of support for TA. </p>
<p>As canvassed extensively in the media (including Colin Drake’s excellent article in <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-tourist-operators-end-up-getting-lost-in-qantas-ta-face-off-11117">The Conversation</a>), Joyce was responding to moves by a group of influential shareholders, including his predecessor at Qantas and now Tourism Australia Chairman Geoff Dixon, that challenged his strategic direction and impending partnership with Emirates.</p>
<p>But the story now unfolding is one of what this means to the Qantas brand - and the opportunity it provides for Virgin Australia to fill the sponsorship vacuum. </p>
<p>The Qantas sponsorship deal has largely been based on the provision of travel to and within Australia for Tourism Australia’s visiting journalist program. Over the past year over 800 TV, radio, print and on-line media journalists from all over the world have been hosted by TA, the majority of whom have been flown by Qantas. These journalists have overwhelmingly posted positive reports on Australia and overwhelmingly have acknowledged or featured the carrier.</p>
<p>Consequently it was hardly surprising that in the immediate wake of Qantas’ decision to cease its sponsorship of TA, Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines had all <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/virgin-in-talks-with-tourism-australia-to-replace-qantas-as-key-sponsor/story-e6frg95x-1226527382013">approached Tourism Australia</a> to fill the sponsorship breach. </p>
<p>Virgin Australia would clearly be the front runner in filling the vacuum due to its extensive domestic airline network and through its ties with Air New Zealand and Etihad, a formidable international route network. </p>
<p>Sponsorship of Tourism Australia does have significant business dividends for the sponsor, especially as Destination Australia is a brand with a very positive image in the global tourism marketplace. Although Qantas remains committed to sponsoring Australia’s state tourism bodies, it is clear that sponsoring the national tourism body commands far greater international cachet.</p>
<p>Since his 2010 appointment as Virgin Australia head (after being edged out of Qantas by Joyce in 2008), John Borghetti has significantly altered the strategic direction and branding of Virgin Australia and has relished the competition with his former employer. </p>
<p>Borghetti has shifted Virgin’s position in the market from the low-cost Virgin Blue carrier he inherited to becoming a hybrid airline which includes many of the cost saving practices of a low cost carrier but with service options which appeal to business travellers. Virgin Australia’s financial performance and its growing market share is now a significant challenge to Qantas and its low cost carrier subsidiary Jetstar. More importantly from a business perspective, in 2012 Virgin Australia posted a small profit while Qantas posted a significant $244 million loss.</p>
<p>Industry insiders, including some who have long-standing connections with Qantas, are suggesting the dispute between Joyce and Dixon now threatens Qantas’ greatest strategic asset; its brand as the Flying Kangaroo and its market position as the unofficial national flag carrier. </p>
<p>If Virgin Australia is able to secure the TA sponsorship it will greatly enhance its own strategy to position itself in the market as the flagship airline of Australia.</p>
<p>There are some wags in the Australian travel industry who are already suggesting that Qantas’ new alliance with Emirates may result in Qantas being dubbed as the “Flying Camel”. </p>
<p>However, the more serious issue for Qantas is that by severing its sponsorship support of TA, it has handed Virgin Australia a golden opportunity to seriously erode the Australian image of the Qantas brand.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Beirman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One week ago, two very different groups gathered in two different cities to talk about tourism. In Sydney, more than 250 industry professionals were being briefed by Tourism Australia chief Andrew McEvoy…David Beirman, Senior Lecturer Tourism , University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/111172012-12-03T19:42:15Z2012-12-03T19:42:15ZWill tourist operators end up getting lost in Qantas/TA face-off?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/18275/original/mmbr7nxh-1354509928.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C14%2C1964%2C1281&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Previously close, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and Tourism Australia chairman Geoff Dixon are now at loggerheads after Joyce withdrew $44 million funding from TA. But Joyce is determined his positioning strategy for Qantas won't be disrupted.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is a master of brinkmanship. The withdrawal of $44 million of marketing support to Tourism Australia based on the perception of a conflict of interest with the board chairman, Geoff Dixon, should not be seen in isolation. </p>
<p>Joyce has many levers of power available to him and has shown he is not afraid to use them. So far it has been a useful tactic in delivering the changes necessary to return Qantas to profitability and bring some sense of stability to this major Australian brand. </p>
<p>A year ago he took the unprecedented step in grounding the entire fleet to break a deadlock of rolling industrial action regarding changed aircraft maintenance. At the time Dr John Buchanan, director of the University of Sydney Workplace Research Centre noted that “more employers (were) taking a more strident position on their right to manage unencumbered”.</p>
<p>Global aviation is worth US$2.2 trillion in economic activity and supports some 57 million jobs, and in our part of the world, Qantas is a known and trusted brand. Tony Tyler, International Air Transportation Association (IATA) CEO and Director General stated recently:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Even six years ago, generating a profit with oil at a $110/barrel (Brent) would have been unthinkable. The industry has re-shaped itself to cope by investing in new fleets, adopting more efficient processes, carefully managing capacity and consolidating. But despite these efforts, the industry’s profitability still balances on a knife-edge, with profit margins that do not cover the cost of capital.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>IATA has forecast net profit from the global aviation industry will run at just 0.6% for 2012. Yes, 0.6%! But Qantas has been awake to the changes required and has implemented many of the above mentioned reshaping processes so in this context its recent woes need to be put into perspective against the global industry backdrop. </p>
<p>Notwithstanding the current malaise, there are blue skies for operators ahead, with IATA indicating they expect a bounce back to 1.1% net profit for the industry in 2013. Perhaps that is why those who understand the underlying dynamics of aviation are now looking to shore up their positions with alliances, mergers and acquisitions.</p>
<p>To make sense of the most recent rumours of an impending Qantas share raid, takeover or management spill, it is worth considering the current economic backdrop. A small group of entrepreneurs with an eye for a bargain have reviewed the asset backing of Qantas and seen a hugely successful Frequent Flyer program, a very solid Jetstar business and a company that has been through several years of cost-cutting and consolidation with a foot in Asia and some powerful alliances. </p>
<p>What is not to like in this opportunity to leverage a national icon and household brand? The fact that the International Long Haul Pilots union are <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/inside-the-rebels-lair-how-a-qantas-coup-was-hatched-20121130-2amdq.html">prepared to listen</a> to a contrary plan for the airline has elevated the significance of this group of well-heeled, well-connected Australian businessman.</p>
<p>Reportedly a key linch pin in formulating a strategy for “regime change” at the carrier and outed recently by Joyce is former Qantas CEO, and present Tourism Australia Chairman Geoff Dixon. The fact Joyce and Dixon have hitherto enjoyed a close personal relationship must be more than irritating for the incumbent.</p>
<p>The plans appear to have been orchestrated by Sydney venture capitalist Mark Carnegie and others mentioned as having been canvassed for interest include veteran advertising executive, John Singleton and former Qantas CFO, Peter Gregg.</p>
<p>Both the prime minister Julia Gillard who was hosting CHOGM in Perth at the time of the fleet grounding last year and her Transport Minister Anthony Albanese were blindsided last time out. The resultant 500 maintenance jobs axed in the accelerated cost cutting plans was not a good look for a party that depends heavily on union support. </p>
<p>It is little wonder then that both the government, through Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson and board members of Tourism Australia have moved quickly to back present chair Geoff Dixon’s position during the current impasse.</p>
<p>So where to from here, for the local tourism industry? Is there to be a substantial fall-out for local tourism operators? The immediate sense is that the industry fears losing a common voice. It is true that unless this shortfall is picked up elsewhere, national tourism marketing plans will be impacted.</p>
<p>The fact that Qantas has moved quickly to allay such concerns by stating that it will ensure that funding set aside for marketing support is redirected into state-based initiatives must be seen as a positive. Many of these states and territory tourism authorities have struggled to operate effectively in recent years through substantial staff and funding cuts. </p>
<p>When looking at national campaigns aimed to draw more inbound visitors many in the industry are still scratching their heads over recent outings such as the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jFIbccCVPU">Baz Luhrmann Walkabout campaign</a> and the now infamous “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn0lwGk4u9o">Where the Bloody Hell are You?</a>”. So perhaps with the requisite funding we may just find a few creative jewels in the rough. Perhaps we need to address the caveat in this debate - that being the time frame. </p>
<p>It is important to note that the current Qantas/TA contract expires in June next year and support has been pledged by Qantas into activities with Tourism Australia in April 2013 so perhaps we may all be getting a little ahead of ourselves.</p>
<p>Lastly, the fact that Tourism Australia is now motivated to get out and shake the can around to other major aviation players, such as the newly revitalised Virgin Australia must also be seen as a positive. </p>
<p>I’m certain that Alan Joyce is happy for this discussion to be aired as the flag carrier is often the first to be berated and the last to be thanked when the cheque book appears.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11117/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Drake does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is a master of brinkmanship. The withdrawal of $44 million of marketing support to Tourism Australia based on the perception of a conflict of interest with the board chairman, Geoff…Colin Drake, Lecturer, Tourism and Event Management, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.