Evolution of the Backpacker Market and the Potential for Australian Tourism
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EVOLUTION OF THE BACKPACKER MARKET AND THE POTENTIAL FOR AUSTRALIAN TOURISM Philip L Pearce, Laurie Murphy and Eric Brymer EVOLUTION OF THE BACKPACKER MARKET AND THE POTENTIAL FOR AUSTRALIAN TOURISM Disclaimer The technical reports present data and its analysis, meta-studies and conceptual studies, and are considered to be of value to industry, government or other researchers. Unlike the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre’s (STCRC’s) Monograph series, these reports have not been subjected to an external peer review process. As such, the scientific accuracy and merit of the research reported here is the responsibility of the authors, who should be contacted for clarification of any content. Author contact details are at the back of this report. The views and opinions of the authors expressed in the reports or by the authors if you contact them do not necessarily state or reflect those of the STCRC. While all reasonable efforts have been made to gather the most current and appropriate information, the STCRC does not give any warranty as to the correctness, completeness or suitability of the information, and disclaims all responsibility for and shall in no event be liable for any errors or for any loss or damage that might be suffered as a consequence of any person acting or refraining from acting or otherwise relying on this information. We’d love to know what you think of our new research titles. If you have five minutes to spare, please visit our website or click on the link below to complete our online survey. STCRC Tech Report Feedback National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry Author: Pearce, Philip L. Title: Evolution of the backpacker market and the potential for Australian tourism / Philip L. Pearce, Laurie Murphy, Eric Brymer. Edition: 1st ed. ISBN: 9781921658181 (pbk.) 9781921658686 (pdf.) Notes: Bibliography. Subjects: Backpacking—Australia. Tourism—Australia. Other Authors/Contributors: Murphy, Laurie. Brymer, Eric. CRC for Sustainable Tourism Pty Ltd. Dewey Number: 796.510994 Copyright © CRC for Sustainable Tourism Pty Ltd 2009 All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. Any enquiries should be directed to: General Manager, Communications and Industry Extension or Publishing Manager, [email protected] First published in Australia in 2009 by CRC for Sustainable Tourism Pty Ltd Printed in Australia (Gold Coast, Queensland) Acknowledgements The Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program, funded this research. ii EVOLUTION OF THE BACKPACKER MARKET AND THE POTENTIAL FOR AUSTRALIAN TOURISM CONTENTS ABSTRACT ____________________________________________________________________________ V RESEARCHER ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ________________________________________________________ V SUMMARY ____________________________________________________________________________ VI OBJECTIVES OF STUDY ___________________________________________________________________ VI METHODOLOGY ________________________________________________________________________ VI KEY FINDINGS _________________________________________________________________________ VI The short term strategies______________________________________________________________ vii The longer term strategies_____________________________________________________________ vii FUTURE ACTION _______________________________________________________________________ VIII CHAPTER 1 ____________________________________________________________________________ 9 INTRODUCTION________________________________________________________________________ 9 DEFINITIONAL CONCERNS_________________________________________________________________ 9 POLITICAL AND COMMUNITY IMAGE _______________________________________________________ 10 LOCAL VERSUS GENERAL KNOWLEDGE _____________________________________________________ 10 STRATEGIES VERSUS TACTICS AND LOCAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ______________________________ 11 LAYOUT _____________________________________________________________________________ 11 CHAPTER 2 ___________________________________________________________________________ 12 SCANNING THE ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRY LITERATURE ______________________________ 12 THE ACADEMIC CONTRIBUTION ___________________________________________________________ 12 THE INDUSTRY LITERATURE ______________________________________________________________ 14 DISCUSSION __________________________________________________________________________ 18 CHAPTER 3 ___________________________________________________________________________ 19 STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS__________________________________________________________ 19 INTRODUCTION ________________________________________________________________________ 19 METHOD _____________________________________________________________________________ 19 RESULTS _____________________________________________________________________________ 21 Positive futures and directions _________________________________________________________ 21 Future complexities __________________________________________________________________ 22 DISCUSSION __________________________________________________________________________ 23 CHAPTER 4 ___________________________________________________________________________ 24 THE SURVEY AND FURTHER STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT ___________________________ 24 INTRODUCTION ________________________________________________________________________ 24 METHODS ____________________________________________________________________________ 24 Backpacker survey development ________________________________________________________ 24 Online survey_______________________________________________________________________ 24 Self-administered survey ______________________________________________________________ 24 STAKEHOLDER SURVEY DEVELOPMENT _____________________________________________________ 25 Results: the backpacker survey _________________________________________________________ 25 A comprehensive view of backpacker trends _______________________________________________ 35 Future travel _______________________________________________________________________ 44 STAGE 2 STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT _____________________________________________________ 44 CHAPTER 5 ___________________________________________________________________________ 54 STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCING THE EVOLUTION OF AUSTRALIAN BACKPACKING ______ 54 SHORT TERM STRATEGIES (DEFINED AS WITHIN 2 YEARS—EFFECTIVELY 2010 AND 2011 ACTIONS) _______ 54 THE LONGER TERM STRATEGIES __________________________________________________________ 56 APPENDIX A: SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY REPORTS_______________________________________ 58 iii EVOLUTION OF THE BACKPACKER MARKET AND THE POTENTIAL FOR AUSTRALIAN TOURISM APPENDIX B: COPY OF QUESTIONNAIRE _______________________________________________ 67 APPENDIX C: ONLINE SURVEY MATERIALS ____________________________________________ 73 APPENDIX D: UNEDITED SELECTION OF MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE COMMENTS FROM 100 RESPONDENTS________________________________________________________________________ 75 APPENDIX E: UNEDITED SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT COMMENTS FROM 100 RESPONDENTS________________________________________________________________________ 78 APPENDIX F: UNEDITED SUGGESTIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PRODUCTS FROM 100 RESPONDENTS______________________________________________________________ 81 APPENDIX G: WORKSHOP FEEDBACK SURVEY _________________________________________ 84 APPENDIX H: STRATEGY SUGGESTIONS FROM INDUSTRY WORKSHOPS ________________ 88 REFERENCES _________________________________________________________________________ 96 AUTHORS___________________________________________________________________________ 97 List of Figures Figure 1: Nationality Profile of Sydney Sample ...........................................................................................26 Figure 2: Nationality Profile of Melbourne Sample .....................................................................................27 Figure 3: Nationality Profile of Perth Sample..............................................................................................27 Figure 4: Nationality Profile of Adelaide Sample.........................................................................................28 Figure 5: Nationality Profile of Hobart Sample ...........................................................................................28 Figure 6: Nationality Profile of Alice Springs Sample .................................................................................29 Figure 7: Nationality Profile of Gold Coast Sample ....................................................................................29 Figure 9: Map showing places visited (red – most popular, dark golden – next most popular)...................32 Figure 10: Travel motivations (1=not at all important, 7= extremely important) .......................................33 Figure 11: Perceived impacts of Increasing Environmental concerns ......................................................... 43 Figure 12: Barriers to Future Travel (1= not at all, 5= very much)............................................................44 Figure 13: Perceived Importance of future travel trends .............................................................................45