Domestic demand for Indigenous tourism in Australia: understanding motivations, barriers, and implications for future development

Abstract

Tourism is promoted as a development tool for Indigenous communities in many countries around the world. Governments and non-governmental organisations have been developing and supporting this strategy with the aim of improving socioeconomic indicators amongst Indigenous populations. However, statistics show that domestic demand for Australian Indigenous tourism products, compared to four other types of mainstream tourism, is quite low. In order to explore why domestic visitors are less engaged in Indigenous tourism than other tourism types, this study adopts a mixed-methods case study to identify domestic visitors' motivations for, and barriers to, participating in Indigenous tourism activities. Semi-structured interviews using a photo-elicitation method were conducted with 52 domestic visitors at the Grampians National Park, Victoria, Australia. The findings suggest that there are differences in motivations for, and barriers to, participating in Indigenous tourism activities. Strategies suggested in this study include increasing the awareness of the different forms of Indigenous tourism activities through promotional material at different points, educating the visitor information centre staff in regard to the existing products offered, creating a seasonal restructure of the existing tourism products offered in the cultural centre, and leveraging the point of differentiation by highlighting the key elements of the local Indigenous culture.

Exploring tourist’s socio-cultural aversions, self-congruity bias, attitudes and willingness to participate in indigenous tourism

“…Comparative results between domestic and international tourists inferred a significant difference between the two groups, whereby internationals were found to have stronger links of aversions and negative attitudes than domestic respondents. This finding differs from findings in the tourism literature that suggest that domestic tourists are more averse towards Indigenous tourism (Espinosa-Abascal et al, 2016; Espinosa Abascal et al, 2015; Ruhanen & Whitford, 2016; Ruhanen et al, 2015b; Ryan & Huyton, 2000a). This comparative result adds another layer to the empirical work of Ruhanen et al (2015b) in explaining domestic tourists’ attitudes towards Indigenous activities due to factors such as past negative interaction with Indigenous individuals/communities, culturally sensitive issues and perceived familiarity or ‘backyard syndrome’ (p. 81).…”

“…As a result, there has been over two decades of research in this space seeking to better understand tourists' motivations and intention/non-intention to participate in indigenous tourism, as well as perceived barriers to participation. For instance, Espinosa Abascal et al (2015) found low interest among domestic tourists stemmed from negative evaluations pertaining to poor quality, inauthenticity and unappealing content of the tourist experience. Other studies focusing on international tourists have found demand to be slightly higher but claimed such engagement may be accidental or unintentional in some instances (Holder & Ruhanen, 2019;Ruhanen et al, 2015aRuhanen et al, , 2015b.…”

“…Indigenous tourism in Australia has experienced low demand in comparison to other tourism products, despite being positioned by marketing bodies as a unique Australian experience (Espinosa-Abascal et al, 2016; Espinosa Abascal et al, 2015; Ruhanen et al, 2015a; Ryan & Huyton, 2000a; Zeppel, 1998). As a result, there has been over two decades of research in this space seeking to better understand tourists’ motivations and intention/non-intention to participate in indigenous tourism, as well as perceived barriers to participation.…”

“…The relatively low appeal of Indigenous tourism has attracted scholarly attention with substantial reference to the product and service (Carr et al, 2016; Espinosa-Abascal, 2014; Holder & Ruhanen, 2019). However, studies have yet to explore potential hidden socio-cultural tensions that may frame tourists’ evaluations of Indigenous tourism in Australia.…”

Exploring the market appeal of Indigenous tourism: A netnographic perspective

“…More than a decade later, this finding was supported in a study by Ruhanen et al (2015a) who found that visitors claimed to have little awareness and could not recall any advertising of Indigenous tourism products and experiences. A study by Espinosa-Abascal (2014) found that for those who participated in an Indigenous tourism experience most based their decisions on previous experiences, word of mouth or their own research, as opposed to targeted marketing on specific products or experiences.…”