Tourism Accommodation and Training

322 Pages·2002·0.99 MB·English

TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AND TRAINING
PART B
Chapters
1 The Inquiry
2 The tourism industry
3 The economic impact of tourism
4 The stock of tourism accommodation in Australia
5 Tourism accommodation segments
6 Accommodation provision and the natural environment
7 Approvals and standards
8 Tax and tourism accommodation
9 The accommodation market fundamentals
10 Investment during the last decade
11 Profitability of tourism accommodation
12 Future investment in tourism accommodation
13 Employment in tourism
14 The tourism labour market
15 Institutional arrangements for the delivery of tourism
training
16 Tourism training

1 THE INQUIRY
The main purpose of this chapter is to explain the nature of the
inquiry and the procedures adopted in conducting it.
There is a brief description of the scope of the inquiry and the terms
of reference. It also explains how the two elements of the inquiry,
accommodation and training, have been interpreted in the report.
The chapter concludes by outlining the report structure.
1.1 Introduction
The terms of reference for the inquiry direct the Commission to report on
among other things:
• the structure and competitiveness of accommodation providers;
• cost structures compared with competing destinations;
• impediments to access to capital for industry investment;
• the impact of institutional, regulatory and taxation measures;
• the effect of industrial awards and agreements on costs and flexibility;
• the appropriateness and adequacy of existing training programs; and
• the level and effectiveness of any government support measures.
The terms of reference also request that the Commission report on examples of
past successes and failures by way of case studies. The identification of
strengths and weaknesses and the use of case studies, as required by the terms of
reference, are useful approaches in undertaking an industry study and are used
where appropriate. However, the overall thrust of the inquiry is to identify the
relevant factors underlying industry performance and competitiveness.
Governments have limited direct involvement with the tourism industry. The
main support provided by governments is for marketing and training. The
former is not included in the terms of reference for the inquiry.
The complete terms of reference for the inquiry are reproduced facing page 1 of
the Overview.
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TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AND TRAINING
1.2 Scope of the inquiry
The reference does not explicitly specify the scope of the inquiry, but it is clear
that the two elements of the inquiry, tourism accommodation and training, are
the subject of the inquiry, rather than the tourism industry as a whole.
Nevertheless, it is the growth of the tourism industry as a whole, that provides
the context in which the inquiry has been conducted.
As an industry development reference, the inquiry is concerned with
opportunities for, and impediments to, growth — specifically, the extent to
which existing tourism accommodation and training arrangements are assisting
or impeding the development of a competitive tourism industry. The inquiry is
therefore forward-looking.
Before looking at the future, the first and not insignificant task of the inquiry,
has been to describe the industry as it is at present. As will become obvious
during the report, certain elements of the recent history of the industry also have
a bearing on the prospects for the industry’s future growth. A recent over-
supply of accommodation in some key destinations has led to what the industry
calls ‘profitless growth’. For the time being at least, this particular piece of
history seems to be dampening new investment in some destinations.
From the perspective of the Australian economy, tourism accommodation and
training are not so much interesting for their own sake, but because a world
competitive tourism industry can generate increased economic development.
From this perspective, the task of the inquiry is to identify sources of
competitive advantage and how tourism accommodation and training can
contribute to the competitiveness of the tourism industry.
1.2.1 What is tourism?
Although most people have a mental picture of what tourism is, the nature of the
‘industry’ can be unclear in a definitional sense.
Tourism is not so much an industry as a collection of activities or a pattern of
demands. The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) has defined tourism as:
... the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual
environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other
purposes. (WTO, 1991, p.8)
Australian bodies, in particular, agencies responsible for gathering and
analysing data on tourists, use similar definitions.
Although tourism is described in a definitional sense by what people do and
where they travel, its economic impact is determined by how much tourists
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1 THE INQUIRY
spend. There is in turn a link between what tourists spend on accommodation
and the requirements for trained staff to meet their needs. In this sense, there is
an inter-dependency between the two elements of the inquiry. Each element
however has its own definitional aspects as discussed below.
For definitional purposes, accommodation is considered to have one boundary
and training another.
1.2.2 Tourism accommodation
The definition of a tourist (given above) determines what is tourism
accommodation: any accommodation used by a tourist. However, given there
are no public policy issues pertaining to the use of friends’ and relatives’ houses
by tourists (which is not an insignificant source of accommodation for tourists),
such accommodation is omitted from discussion.
To analyse tourism accommodation, the sector is best thought of not as a single
entity, but as comprising many different segments, from 4 and 5 star hotels to
backpacker hostels and caravan parks.
The inquiry therefore focuses on the factors that contribute to or detract from
the competitiveness of some or all of these different accommodation segments.
1.2.3 Tourism training
A vast range of occupations are involved in providing goods and services to
tourists, not only those associated with accommodation but with such activities
as tour guiding, travel bookings and restaurant meals. Improved staff training
can improve competitive advantage through higher productivity and customer
enjoyment of the tourism experience. Such training can lead to additional
business through word of mouth and an increase in repeat business.
1.3 Why investigate tourism accommodation and training?
A century ago, travel for pleasure was an experience largely confined to the
wealthy and there was far less business travel than there is now. With the
advent of mass tourism this has changed dramatically and tourism is now a fast-
growing industry worldwide.
The tourism industry is also growing rapidly in Australia and is generally
considered to be a success story. Tourism accommodation and training are
important for the ongoing development of an economically viable tourism
industry from which the benefits will flow through the economy generally.
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1.4 Conduct of the inquiry
Following receipt of the terms of reference the Commissioners commenced a
round of informal visits to seek the views of a wide range of people.
Accommodation owners, financiers, trade union officials, trainers, workers and
representatives of industry and government agencies were consulted.
An issues paper was subsequently prepared and distributed to interested parties.
Initial public hearings were held in May, June and July 1995 in Sydney,
Melbourne, Darwin, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Hobart, Cairns and Canberra.
Following release of the Draft Report in November 1995 a second round of
public hearings was held. At this time representatives of the major industry
interest groups wrote to the Minister seeking an extension of time to make
submissions and for a delay in the date by which the Commission should
present its report. The Minister agreed to industry’s request and a new reporting
date of 23 April 1996 was set.
A total of 184 submissions were received. Organisations and individuals who
made submissions to the inquiry and participated in industry visits or at public
hearings are listed in Appendix A.
1.5 Structure of the report
The report is in four parts, A to D. Part A contains the terms of reference and
the overview. Part B contains the chapters. There are four case studies in Part
C and the appendices are in the final part of the report, Part D.
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2 THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
Tourism to and within Australia is a high profile industry, forecast
to grow until the year 2000 and beyond.
The purpose of this chapter is to present an overview of Australian
tourism and put it in a worldwide context.
The Chapter defines tourism and presents a brief history of it in
Australia. It then discusses worldwide and regional trends in
tourism, comparing them with Australian trends.
The Chapter discusses some of the main influences on tourism in
Australia and concludes with a discussion of the role of the
government in supporting tourism.
2.1 Measuring tourism as an industry
It is pertinent to this inquiry to have a clear understanding of what tourism is.
As will become evident, how tourism is defined and measured has
implications for the two distinct elements of this inquiry — accommodation
and training.
Industries are typically thought of in terms of their output (for example bales
of wool) and measuring and assessing them involves aggregating activities that
produce similar products. However, tourism does not conform to this model.
It is not possible to measure tourism as the supply of a particular product:
... tourism supply is defined in terms of the demand (of the buyer) rather than, as
usual in other industries, in terms of the properties of the product and its production.
(Morley 1990, p. 4)
The reason is that tourists buy products which are also bought by the rest of
the community. Examples are local transport and restaurant meals. The extent
to which taxis are part of the tourism industry depends not on the service they
provide but on who buys it.
In Australia, official data on tourists, tourism activities, expenditure and
accommodation are provided by three major bodies — the Australian Bureau
of Statistics (ABS), the Bureau of Tourism Research (BTR) and the Tourism
Forecasting Council (TFC). The states and territories also produce official
data for their jurisdictions. The measures used for tourists in statistical
publications are shown in Box 2.1.
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TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AND TRAINING
Box 2.1 Statistical measures of tourists and tourist trips
The term tourist is used to describe overseas visitors, domestic overnight visitors and
domestic day-trippers. The following definitions are important in understanding the
statistical data.
• Short-term inbound arrivals of overseas visitors. This term is used for overseas
visitors whose intended stay in Australia is less than 12 months. It is often
shortened to inbound arrivals or overseas visitors. This classification also
includes students and others who intend to stay less than twelve months. The
BTR survey only includes those over the age 15 years, but the ABS survey
includes all visitors.
• Domestic overnight trips. In BTR statistical collections, a domestic tourism
journey is referred to as a trip. The main destination of the trip is recorded as the
place where the most nights on the journey were spent. Any place where one or
more nights were spent whilst on a trip is recorded as a visit; hence, domestic
tourism trips subsume visits and comprise trips for any purpose including
business trips.
• Domestic day-trips. A day-trip is defined as ‘a trip away from home involving
no overnight stay, at least four hours in duration where the main purpose of the
trip is for pleasure’ (BTR 1995b).
Both the ABS and the BTR are moving to align Australian tourism data
collections with the framework and definitions developed by the United
Nations Economic and Social Council (UNESC) and the World Tourism
Organisation (WTO). This framework was ratified by the UNESC in February
1993 for the purpose of collecting internationally comparable tourism
statistics.
In this framework, tourism is defined as:
... the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual
environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other
purposes. (UNESC 1992, p. 8)
In addition to those travellers who stay overnight the UNESC–WTO definition
of tourism includes day-trippers.
2.2 The history of tourism
The Industrial Revolution brought with it technological changes that permitted
relatively inexpensive transport, affordable by the emerging middle class.
Increasingly these people were able to spend part of their wealth on
discretionary goods such as travel for leisure. In the twentieth century,
tourism, or as it was previously known, travel, has been driven by a range of
factors.
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2 THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
Prior to World War I, before widespread adoption of the automobile, it was the
custom to use public transport to reach leisure destinations. The most
extensive transport networks were linked to major cities such as Melbourne
and Sydney. The popularity of the Dandenong Ranges to Melbourne’s east
and the Blue Mountains to Sydney’s west typified the recreational preferences
of this period, attracting guests to the numerous guesthouses and private
hotels — two dominant styles of tourism accommodation of that era.
Visitation and the popularity of destinations reflected strong seasonal patterns.
Coastal locations were obviously popular in summer, and northern coastal
regions such as the Gold Coast and, for the more affluent, the Great Barrier
Reef were drawcards in winter.
Destinations beyond metropolitan areas began to achieve prominence as motor
car touring increased in popularity after the depression of the 1920s. For
example, the Pacific Highway from Sydney to the Gold Coast fed tourism
growth on the Gold Coast, and other tourism centres that developed at various
nodes in between.
Australia became linked to world air travel in the 1930s as one point of
connection on Imperial Airlines’ flights around the world. Australian tourism
was historically linked to world leisure tourism via the preferences of the
wealthy, who could afford to travel to their destination of choice. Prior to
World War II, rail transport and sea travel were prominent. While
representing the best transport technologies of their era, these means of travel
were relatively slow. Following World War II, tourism in Australia benefited
from reduced travel times, as the lower cost of commercial aviation
encouraged the expansion of both the inbound and domestic markets.
With the advent of jet aircraft in the late fifties, more distant destinations
became accessible. Much domestic tourism was closely associated with
natural attractions, such as the beach and the Australian bushland. Rapid
transport facilitated expansion of tourism in remote natural areas, further
increasing the appeal of Australia to the international tourist market and
providing more options for domestic travellers.
Changing fashions also led development as certain regions rose in popularity,
then sometimes declined, or changed according to the type of tourist who
visited. For example, the Gold Coast changed from a ‘sea of tents’ — mainly
at Christmas time — with occasional fibro-cement beach shacks, to a near
continuous strip of commercial tourism accommodation, including nodal
concentrations of resorts, motels and large hotels. Tasmania has evolved from
being an off-shore ‘holiday isle attraction’, appealing to all types of tourists, to
a leading exponent of nature-based tourism, and more recently has diversified
its appeal by providing a range of bed and breakfast accommodation.
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Although what we now call tourism has a long history in the northern
hemisphere, mass tourism to and within Australia is a relatively recent
phenomenon. While commercial travel and pleasure touring by the wealthy
has been a longstanding part of Australian life, mass tourism emerged largely
over the past 50 years.
Since World War II tourism in Australia has continued to grow. By the mid
1980s, the rate of expansion of the Australian tourism industry was so rapid
that the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD)
identified Australia as the World’s fastest growing tourism destination (Report
of the Australian Government Inquiry into Tourism, 1986). Indeed the scope
of tourism now extends to all parts of Australia and caters for most types of
tourist.
2.3 Tourism worldwide
Tourists comprise two groups, those travelling within their own country
(domestic tourists) and those travelling outside their home country
(international visitors).
Figure 2.1 Worldwide tourist arrivals at international borders
and annual changes, 1960 to 1994
600 18
16
500
14
s) A
n n
o 12n
m arrivals (milli 340000 6810ual change (pe
Touris 200 4 r cent)
2
100
0
0 -2
01234567890123456789012345678901234
66666666667777777777888888888899999
99999999999999999999999999999999999
11111111111111111111111111111111111
Total Tourist Arrivals Percentage Change P.A.
Source: WTO 1995, p. 2
The WTO publishes data on the number of tourist arrivals at international
borders throughout the world. To calculate these data the WTO collate
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