¶ … Opportunities to Promote Travel and Tourism for Greenbushes 6254, Western Australia
This study provides an evaluation of Greenbushes 6254, Western Australia, to best determine how to preserve its culture and heritage to attract more tourists to use the local hotels, shops, and businesses. To this end, the study identifies those factors that have been shown to motivate cultural-heritage tourists to visit various destinations. An evaluation of the potential for Greenbushes 6254 to promote its cultural-heritage tourism features while preserving its existing attractor factors with the support of Lotterywest grants and community engagement is followed by an outline of the study's methodology and a description of the data collection process. Finally, a discussion concerning the special expertise that was required for the study is followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.
Aims and Objectives
The overarching aim of the study was to identify opportunities for the community leaders of Bridgetown-Greenbushes to promote their shire as a cultural-heritage tourism destination while preserving those cultural-heritage elements that make their community a desirable destination in the first place. In support of this overarching aim, the study had three main objectives as follows:
1. Deliver a comprehensive, critical review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning cultural-heritage tourism in general and cultural-heritage tourism in rural Australian communities in particular.
2. Develop and administer a custom survey instrument to a population of Australian consumers concerning their views about cultural-heritage tourism and which attractor factors are most salient in attracting tourists to a rural destination.
3. Deliver a synthesis of the secondary and primary data to provide recommendations for the community leaders of Greenbushes concerning cultural-heritage developmental initiatives.
Rationale in Support of Project Selection
The global travel and tourism industry has experienced phenomenal growth over the past few decades (Confer & Kerstettler 2000). Indeed, increasing numbers of tourists are traveling at home and abroad, and in the process, worldwide spending on travel and tourism has more than doubled in recent years (Confer & Kerstettler 2000). One of the fastest-growing segments of the global travel and tourism industry is cultural-heritage tourism. For instance, according to Huibin and Marzuki (2013, p. 51), "In the field of tourism study, cultural heritage has been regarded as one of the most important attractions. The great charms with irresistible temptations from cultural heritage destinations have been enthralling tourists all over the world." In sum, cultural-heritage tourism concerns the "cultural traditions, places and values that ... groups throughout the world are proud to conserve. Cultural traditions such as family patterns, religious practices, folklore traditions, and social customs attract individuals interested in heritage" (Confer & Kerstettler 2000, p. 28).
Contributing Factors
In reality, the Bridgetown-Greenbushes community leaders are faced with some profound challenges in promoting their community as a cultural-heritage tourism destination. Despite these challenges, the community does have some significant attractor factors available for cultural-tourism promotion. Besides viticulture, scenic trails and some quaint farmhouses and historic bridges (see Figures 1 and 2 below), one of the major draws that shire boasts in its visitors' center is a collection of more than 100 completed jigsaw puzzles, the largest such collection in the Southern Hemisphere. This collection may provide a springboard for the shire's cultural-heritage tourism efforts. For instance, according to Staiff (2003, p. 143), "There are 60 army museums in Australia. Equally impressive are the enormous number of town/regional museums that are often described as 'amateur' collections of the paraphernalia of recent domestic/town life." Therefore, the potential exists for the community to use this jigsaw puzzle collection to stage an annual jigsaw puzzle completion contest or similar event to raise awareness of Bridgetown-Greenbushes as a destination of choice for cultural-heritage tourists in Western Australia.
Research Questions
This study was guided by the following research questions:
1. What are the major attractor factors for rural destinations in Australia such as Bridgetown-Greenbushes?
2. What current attractor factors does Bridgetown-Greenbushes have that can be used to promote the community as a cultural-heritage destination?
3. What types of grants are available from Lotterywest to promote cultural-heritage tourism to Bridgetown-Greenbushes?
4. How can the community leaders in Bridgetown-Greenbushes use the available resources to improve cultural-heritage tourism arrivals in the future?
Chapter Two:
Review of the Relevant Literature
Background and Overview
Although it was once an independent shire, the shire of Bridgetown recently incorporated the shire of Greenbushes, creating Bridgetown-Greenbushes (Greenbushes 2004). The site of Greenbushes proper is located about 250 kilometers south of Perth and just 17 kilometers away from Bridgetown, the community depends on the mining and timber...
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