Understanding Urban Tourism Impacts: An Australian Study. Technical Report

As of 30 June 2009, Australias major cities were home to more than two-thirds (69%) of the population (ABS, 2010). In contrast, just 2 per cent of the total population lived in remote or very remote areas of Australia and 29 per cent lived in regional areas (ABS, 2010). In addition to housing the bulk of Australias population, Australias capital cities are also key gateways for international tourism and significant destinations for domestic tourism. For 2008, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane respectively rated as the top three regions for expenditure by domestic and international visitors (Access Economics 2009). Tourists constitute a `transient population using cities either as gateways to other destinations or as a home for ephemeral periods of time contributing to the rise and fall of urban populations as each new wave of visitors replaces the last (Edwards, Griffin & Hayllar, 2008). During their stay, tourists interact with the host destination and impacts may arise from this interaction. Edwards, Griffin and Hayllar (2008) have argued that a dialectic engagement takes place in cities between host and visitors they question whether cities, originally designed to accommodate permanent residents and concentrations of economic and physical activity, face their own set of consequences that differ to regional contexts