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TOURISTS HAPPIER WITH REEF TRIPS17 April 2002 "Currently tourism across the world and especially in Queensland is struggling to survive the downturn in international travel and major changes to air services," said Professor Philip Pearce, leading researcher on the project. "Tourism operators need to find new ways to be competitive. One method is to better understand tourists, and how they decide what they will do and where they will travel." Professor Pearce and his team surveyed more than 2,000 visitors during the high tourist season in 2001. The survey was conducted in multiple languages with different operators from the Whitsundays to Port Douglas. "We found that visitors are very satisfied with their experiences on the reef," said Professor Pearce. "On average, visitors give their reef experiences a score of 8.6 out of 10 with even higher scores for the reef staff who are central to their experiences. The score is higher than in previous surveys conducted in 1996 and 1998." Also good news for the tourism industry is the high level of intended repeat reef visitation by Australian domestic visitors. "One of the consequences of the international tensions is that people are more likely to holiday in their own country," said Professor Pearce. "This could be an opportunity for reef operators to capture more of the Australian market that previously sought marine experiences overseas." "Australian domestic visitors are very positive about their reef experiences but they are looking for variety in their experiences. One of the lessons for reef operators is the need to promote the variety of opportunities available and to update and change their services regularly." The CRC Reef researchers have collected a large amount of detailed information about reef visitors that can help tourism operators understand visitor expectations, market characteristics and likely future demand for reef experiences. The researchers are sharing their detailed information with tourism operators in workshops in Cairns and the Whitsundays. The workshops are an opportunity for reef operators to get involved in the analysis and ask questions most relevant to them so they can maintain their competitiveness in difficult times. The workshops are being held at the Great Adventures Visitor Centre, Wharf St, Cairns on Thursday 18 April from 11-12.30 and at the Combined Marine Club, Canonvale in the Whitsundays on Monday 22 April from 6-8pm. For more information call: |
