Tourism a blessing or a curse?

The impact of tourism on regional communities is often viewed as either a blessing or a curse, and policymakers may dream of the opportunity to peek at the future before making serious decisions about this industry.

However, assessing the contribution of tourism to regional communities has just become a little easier with the completion of the first stage of PROSPER, a comprehensive analysis of regional tourism in Australia by the Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism.

Using eleven case studies from regional Australia, researchers from Murdoch University, Southern Cross University and the University of Queensland developed a guide to assessing the value of tourism in different communities.

Co-director of the PROSPER project, Dr Jim Macbeth from Murdoch University said the project assessed whether communities are ready for the tourism industry and to decide what sort of tourism would be most appropriate for the particular region.

“In each case study we analysed the social, economic and environmental impacts of tourism on the regional community and examined the existing links between organisations and individuals that would have an effect on the success of the tourism concept,” said Dr Macbeth.

“We found that there were at least ten dimensions that good managers had to consider in the tourism development, including the history of the area, the number and types of businesses, and the critical mass of people and services in the region.”

The researchers have compiled their findings into a book entitled, “Innovation in Regional Tourism” which will be published and launched later this year.