Essay on "Cultural-Heritage Tourism in Western Australia"

Essay 19 pages (5099 words) Sources: 20

[EXCERPT] . . . .

" As noted above, there have also been tin-sluicing operations at Greenbushes since 1888, but the production levels have historically been on a very limited scale (Crowley, 1960).

Therefore, identifying new cultural-heritage tourism opportunities for this community represents a timely and valuable enterprise. In this regard, Lew (2011, p. 554) emphasises that, "Without tourist attractions there would be no tourism. Without tourism there would be no tourist attractions. Although a tautology, such an argument still points to the fundamental importance of tourist attractions and the attractiveness of places to tourism." The research to date has resulted in some mixed views about what constitutes the fundamental concept of "tourist attraction" including terms such as "exploitable resources," "marketable products," "images," place "attributes," and "features" (Lew 2011). Despite the differing terminology involved, there is a general consensus that attractions represent the basic components of tourism development (Lew 2011). According to Lew (2011, p. 555), "In essence, tourist attractions consist of all those elements of a 'non-home' place that draw discretionary travellers away from their homes.

They usually include landscapes to observe, activities to participate in, and experiences to remember." Likewise, Palmer and Wolff (2008) cite the prevailing practice of dividing tourism into different types, including cultural-heritage tourism, but the majority of the research to date focuses on what features of a destination are sufficiently compelling to attract people from their homes. In this regard, Palmer and Wolff (2008, p. 215) report that, "Although there are many ways of creating 'categories of tourist attractions,' most studies focused on tourist attractors attempt to answer the question: 'What are the forces that cause people to leave home during their leisure time?'"

Despite this general consensus, though, differentiating tourist attraction from non-attractions can be problematic because some resources can serve in both capacities. For instance, Lew (2011, p. 555) points out that, "Transportation (e.g., cruise liners), accommodations (e.g., resorts), and other services (e.g., restaurants) can themselves take on the attributes of an attraction, further comp1icating the distinction between various segments of the tourism industry. At times, tourists themselves can even become attractions."

Therefore, it is possible for communities such as Greenbushes to promote local resources in ways that will make them tourist attractions. According to Lew (2011), one definition requires just three basic elements to qualify as a tourist attraction: (a) tourists, (b) a site to be viewed, and (c) a marker or image that interprets the site's significance. As Lew (2011, p. 555) points out, "These criteria could enable virtually anything to become a tourist attraction." Consequently, viewed in its most expanded context, tourist attractions can include the types of attractions that are typically associated with the term (historic sites, amusement parks, and spectacular scenery) as well as the facilities and services that serve the tourist population (Lew 2011). In addition, tourist attractions can also include "the social institutions which form the basis for the very existence of human habitation" (Lew 2011, p. 555).

Taken together, there are several aspects of Greenbushes that can be used to promote cultural-heritage tourism, but it is important to understand precisely what the terminology means. In this regard, Palmer and Wolff (2008, p. 217) point out that, "The 'cultural' part of the term 'cultural heritage' requires that the category include a distinctiveness, regardless of what else may distinguish the category of people." While there remains some controversy among travel and tourism scholars concerning the best approach to defining "heritage," there is also a general consensus that in order to satisfy the criteria for a cultural-heritage destination, the "heritage" aspect must of the attractor must be regarded as possessing a specific temporal dimension because "strictly speaking, heritage refers to that which has been or may be inherited" (Palmer & Wolff 2008, p. 218). This means that the community leaders in Greenbushes will need to identify some dimension of their heritage such as the shire's long-time mining history that can be used to attract additional tourists to the region.

In sum, Greenbushes may already possess the attractors that are needed to generate additional travel and tourism but they have not adequately promoted them for this purpose. There are some resources that are available to help communities such as Greenbushes promote their cultural-heritage aspects for increased tourism, though, including grants from Lotterywest. Every year, Lotterywest awards 1,000 grants totalling more than $100,000,000 for this purpose (Working for you 2014). According to Lotterywest's Web site, "The volume of our grants and the number of organisations we support provides us with a unique vantage point. Collectively we collaborate on all kinds of ideas and projects to find ways to maximise the benefit to communities" (Working for you 2014, p. 2). The award of a grant by Lotterywest, though, typically requires a concomitant investment by the community (Working for you 2014). Many of the past grants awarded by Lotterywest were specifically targeted at cultural-heritage-related initiatives, including those set forth in Table 2 below.

Table 2

Representative Past Grants by Lotterywest

Recipient

Purpose

Amount

Suburb

24/03/2014

West Australian Mountain Bike Association Incorporated

To plan a series of new trails in the Dwellingup area including downhill and cross-country off-road bike trails.

$22,500

WEST LEEDERVILLE

24/03/2014

Toodyay Festivals Inc.

Towards the 2014 Toodyay Moondyne Festival held on the 4th of May that will bring the community together to celebrate its colonial heritage.

$9,840

TOODYAY

24/03/2014

City of South Perth Historical Society Incorporated

Towards equipment to support the activities of a historical society operating in Heritage House in South Perth.

$5,000

SOUTH PERTH

24/03/2014

Perth International Jazz Festival Inc.

Towards the 2014 Perth International Jazz Festival which includes a range of free and low-cost performances and activities as well as access to world-class performers.

$100,000

PERTH

24/03/2014

Nepali Association of Western Australia (NAWA) Incorporated

Towards the Baisakh Sakranti (Nepali New Year 2014) Multicultural Celebration, which will assist the Nepali community to preserve their culture and share it with the wider community.

$4,500

WEMBLEY

24/03/2014

Shire of Mount Magnet

Towards the Astro Rocks Fest event to be held in May 2014 in Mount Magnet. The event will provide the opportunity to bring the community together and to celebrate, explore and discover the unique geological and astronomic attributes associated with the area.

$10,497

MOUNT MAGNET

24/03/2014

Royal Western Australian Historical Society Incorporated

To support the attendance of delegates from remote and regional locations to the 2014 Royal Western Australian Historical Society's Conference, to share knowledge associated with the State's heritage.

$9,058

NEDLANDS

24/02/2014

Law Society of Western Australia

Towards the design and interpretive signage for the Old Court House Law Museum.

$50,780

PERTH

24/02/2014

Northampton Historical Society Incorporated

Towards interpretive signage for the outdoor display items at Chiverton House in Northampton.

$3,000

NORTHAMPTON

4/02/2014

Eastern Goldfields Historical Society Inc.

Towards an Interpretation Plan for the Kanowna Heritage Trail, Kalgoorlie.

$19,380

BOULDER

24/02/2014

City of Armadale

Towards an Interpretation Plan for the Bert Tyler Vintage Machinery Museum in Armadale.

$6,000

ARMADALE

24/02/2014

City of Bunbury

Towards the design, development and installation of interpretive signage at the King Cottage Museum, Bunbury.

$23,734

BUNBURY

24/02/2014

Shire of Broome

Towards the Heritage Signage Project in Chinatown, Broome.

$30,000

BROOME

24/02/2014

City of Busselton

Towards the development, design and installation of interpretive signage throughout the Vasse section of the South West Rail Trail.

$40,950

BUSSELTON

Chapter Three:

Methodology

Data-Gathering Approach

The secondary data needed for the proposed study was collected using a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning cultural-heritage tourism in general and for rural Australian communities in particular. The primary data for the proposed study was collected using an online custom survey instrument hosted by SurveyMonkey that was designed to assess potential cultural-heritage tourists' views concerning desirable attractor factors. The use of both secondary and primary data is highly congruent with the guidance provided by Dennis and Harris (2002, p. 39) who advise, "Primary data are information that is being collected for the first time in order to address a specific research problem. This means that it is likely to be directly relevant to the research, unlike secondary data, which may be out of date or collected for a totally different purpose. Ideally, an effective research project should incorporate both primary and secondary data."

Special Expertise Required

The design of the custom survey will require special expertise. Therefore, the guidance set forth in Table 3 provided by Neuman (2003) was followed:

Table 3

Steps to Research Survey Development and Administration

Step

Description

Step No. 1

Develop research questions/hypotheses.

Decide on type of survey.

Write survey questions.

Decide on response categories.

Design layout.

Step No. 2

Plan how to record data.

Step No. 3

Decide on target population.

Get sampling frame.

Decide on sample size.

Select sample.

Step No. 4

Locate respondents.

Administer survey.

Carefully record data.

Step No. 5

Enter data into computers.

Recheck all data.

Perform statistical analysis on data.

Step No. 6

Describe methods and… READ MORE

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