Tourist Management Strategies Assessment - Australia Zoo

TOuRIST MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ASSESMENT

TO5104

CASE STUDY ON

AUSTRALIA ZOO

BY

JISHNU RAJAN AND RANJODH SINGH

SUBMITTED ON: 09 MAY 2016

INTRODUCTION:

A good tourist site, offers the public clear conceptions of what the place is about, the activities available are understood and accessible, and the physical elements that constitute the setting are distinctive and aesthetically pleasing (Pearce, 2005).

Australia zoo is a100 acre zoo located in the Queensland state near Beerwah on the sunshine coast. The zoo is a member of zoo and aquarium association and is owned by Mrs. Terry Irwin, the widow of renowned crocodile hunter. The zoo was founded by his parent back in 1970s, under the name Beerwah reptile and fauna park. By 1982, the park starts its expand more and was renamed as Queensland reptile and fauna park. With the extra income generated from the filming, Mr. Steve and his wife expanded the park by introducing new exhibits and the buildings, and they again renamed the park to Australia Zoo. In the year the zoo and the government of Queensland made a land deal so that a part of Beerwah forest was given to zoo for the exchange of some land near Peachster state forest which enables the zoo to introduce the open range safari attraction which helps the zoo to expand to a world class standard. In 2008, the zoo has introduced wildlife hospital, which is claimed to be the best and largest in the world. It contains two operation theatres with viewing areas for student veterinarians, two treatment rooms ,  intensive care units  for various birds, mammals etc., public area having nursery, pharmacy etc.

The zoo is accessible via road and rail. Its located in Steve Irwin way at Beerwah which is a 60-minute drive from the city of Brisbane. The Queensland railway is running its city train services from Gold coast to Brisbane and Beerwah. The zoo courtesy coach meets all the train at Benewah rail station to transfer passengers from zoo. Tran slink is also serving regular bus services throughout the operational hours of zoo.

The zoo is having a wide variety of facilities including ample and separate parking facilities for both staff and visitors, multiple ticket counters which is useful for dealing with different categories of visitors like walking visitors or VIP visitors who came here on different plans etc. Apart from that, zoo is facilitated with refreshment facilities and toilets throughout various spots of the zoo. The zoo is also enabled with free Wi-Fi throughout. The zoo also facilitates locker facility and separate smoking zones for the visitors.

Some of the major exhibits for the zoo:

1.The Crocoseum:

The Crocoseum stadium is actually the idea of Steve. He always wants to educate the visitors of the zoo about how the crocodiles live and behave in the wild. There are a lot of channels and gates alongside the stadium which can house several salt water crocodiles and can bring them individually for the shows. The stadium is equipped with a seating capacity for 5000people with all multi-sensory facilities to enable the viewers a experience filed with fun and education. During its construction, it was the first of its type in the world where live shows for birds, snakes and crocodiles are conducted. The Australia zoo calls these shows as ‘wildlife warriors 101’.

2. Africa:

The zoo opens its Africa safari exhibit in 2011. They have managed to make a replica of Serengeti ecosystem, showing the zebras, giraffes, rhinos and cheetah are interacting in the wild. Another innovation to the zoo is the creation of an artificial island (representing the island of Madagascar) , which is named  as Bindi’s  Island exhibiting animals like giant tortoises, lumers etc. Even the island is withholding a three-story treehouse which is actually magnificent giving a panoramic view of the Zoo.

3.Tiger temple

This exhibit showcases both Sumatran and Bengal tigers and is built like the Ankor Wat in the Cambodia. The exhibit is enclosed with glass on two sides and it also have a underwater viewing area.

Apart from these major exhibits they also have South-East Asian Precinct where all the Asian animals like res pandas, Burmese python etc. are housed. This one is situated next to the tiger temple. Then there is Roo-haven where the visitors can feed and spend time with the kangaroos. The Australia zoo is also stands as house for various native animals of Australia like wombats, koalas, dingoes etc.

To get around with the zoo, they are providing shuttle service which operates on every thirty minutes with stopes in between various spots of the zoo. The visitors can also hire caddle to get around the zoo themselves.

Apart from these exhibits, the Zoo is providing various activities to keep the visitors mindful. The daily shows in Crocosium is a perfect example for that. Apart from that there are various walkthrough by which visitors can fed and pet kangaroos, wallabies, koalas etc. Another interesting attraction in the zoo is that crew members of the zoo will be roaming around the zoo throughout the day with various lizards, alligators, birds etc. visitors can take pictures along with that.

Apart from all these, Australia zoo is actively engaged in the conservation of wildlife and take various activities in achieving the sustainability

Some of the management issues /problems in the site

A good tourist site, offers the public clear conceptions of what the place is about, the activities available are understood and accessible, and the physical elements that constitute the setting are distinctive and aesthetically pleasing (Pearce, 2005). The Australia zoo is successful in presenting itself as a very good tourist site to the visitors. We can say that the zoo is managed very well with very few issues. One of the major issue that is happening in the zoo is crowding. The crowding happening in the zoo is not continuous, its fluctuating. The zoo usually gets crowded mostly on the weekends and public holidays.