Impediments to Tourism Investment in Australia: A Scoping Study

Abstract

This article reports on a scoping study identifying the impediments to tourism investment in Australia. It focuses on regional perspectives to present an understanding of tourism investment in metropolitan, regional, and remote tourism destinations. Despite the 2009 Jackson Report outlining several supply-side inhibitors to tourism development in Australia, the key impediments for tourism investment are not well covered in the tourism literature and are rarely brought together in an integrated manner. To identify these investment impediments, a case study approach, employing semistructured interviews with tourism industry and government representatives in several metropolitan, regional, and remote locations throughout Australia, was conducted in early 2010. Low profitability and variable demand were frequently nominated as the most significant impediments to investment by the majority of the interviewees. However, each location has its own unique circumstances and impediments to investment, underpinned by the type of economic development of the region, local planning controls and regulations, as well as issues particular to tourism such as location and natural and/or cultural attractions. A number of recommendations are formulated based on the findings from the case studies that emphasize the identification, monitoring, and publicizing of facilitators of investment and strategies to overcome impediments.