Tourism at Murdoch

It is ironic that in these days of terrorism of the highest order, some communities have for years labelled tourists as 'terrorists'. There is considerable antipathy towards tourists in many destination of the world, including some in Australia. Why should this be so? Have you not felt the same yourself sometimes? What can we do about it? This is a 'host's' perspective.

Tourism is obviously also about travelling, about people who travel. Why do we spend so much time 'dreaming' about travel? Why do we spend so much money on travel? What satisfaction do we get for our travel? What impacts do we as individuals have on the places to which we travel? This is a tourist's perspective.

Tourism is a complex industry, one that forms part of a wide ranging strategy for economic and social development that is increasingly pursued by governments at Federal, State and Local levels. Notwithstanding the terrorist attacks on America and the collapse of some airlines, tourism is an industry that will continue to be important in the State of Western Australia for a long time to come. This is a government perspective

Tourists come from within Australia and from overseas, but they also go elsewhere in Australia and overseas. How can we get more tourists to come here and spend more of their money here? Do more tourists simply mean more money and more profits? What sort of tourists and travel motivations can our companies cater for? How can we meet tourist's demands for quality service, quality information and a quality experience - so that they want to come back and so that they tell their friends and families to come here? This is an industry perspective.

Tourism, while often putting enormous pressures on communities, is potentially one of the few industries that can be 'green' and that can be compatible with the social, economic and environmental aspirations of communities throughout urban and regional areas. Our aim at Murdoch is to educate our graduates so that they understand tourists, tourists' motivations and the tourism industry. However, we also aim to send them into the working world with an understanding of issues of policy and planning, that is, the politics of tourism and with a fundamental knowledge of and ability in the power of research. This is so that as tour operators, as local government employees, as hotel staff, they can contribute to the long-term sustainability of our tourism industry and its supporting communities in WA.

Tourism at Murdoch is about high quality research and teaching that aims to contribute to not only sustainable tourism but sustainable development of WA and Australia. We also aim to contribute to worldwide knowledge of tourism and tourism development.

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