Executive Summary
This report will explain how tourism affects Sydney, why tourists want to visit Sydney, and how this impacts the economy and its social impacts on the community.
Where/What is Sydney?
Sydney is located in NSW, Australia. Sydney is the capital of NSW. It is one of Australia’s largest cities. It is well known for the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The results suggest that in 2018, 10.17 million people visited Sydney. The population of Sydney in 2019 is 4 million. Sydney has a domestic and international airport, which means that people can travel here from a range of countries and cities around Australia. The size of Sydney is 4,775 miles square.
Why would tourists want to travel here?
This report investigates Sydney’s standing as a modern, dynamic, and multicultural city. The research suggests that Sydney has a range of things to see and do and some iconic events that draw tourists and the wider Australian population to attend them. An example of these events are Gay Mardis Gras, The Sydney Fringe Festival, Sculpture By the Ocean, and Vivid. These are cultural events that bring a diverse community together. Sydney has a range of museums and galleries, for example, The Art Gallery Of NSW and the Museum of Contemporary Art. International tourists as well as Australian residents are drawn to Sydney because of its spectacular harbour and beaches. The research suggests traveling by ferry easily connects tourists to some of Sydney's most stunning locations, for example, Manly Beach, Balmoral Beach, and Watsons Bay. The ferry is a pleasant way to travel around Australia’s oldest city. Tourists are also drawn to understand and acknowledge the people of Australia who are the longest continuously surviving culture on Earth.
Sydney has an abundance of tourist attractions that cater to all ages, some of these are Bondi Beach, Darling Harbour, The Rocks, Taronga Zoo, The Royal Botanical Gardens, Luna Park, and Circular Quay. The Opera House and The Harbour Bridge are visually unique and striking and are architecturally renowned around the world.
Sydney also has an international airport located 8km south of Sydney's city center. Many regional flights also come into Sydney connecting Sydney to the rest of Australia and is a gateway for tourists to connect to areas outside of Sydney.
Numerous sporting events take place in Sydney which also attract tourists here, the Australian Women’s cricket team is about to play Sri Lanka. Australia is the number-one-ranked team in the world.
How is tourism impacting Sydney?
Tourism is a big part of Sydney. There are both positives and negatives. Lots of people live in Sydney because of job opportunities. Tourism is a key strength in Australia’s economy. The negative impacts of tourism are; litter, erosion, traffic congestion, pedestrian congestion, pollution, and public transport overload. Tourism can impact the community by making them feel as if they don’t belong. Events need to focus on the residents as well as tourists so that there is a feeling of being part of their community. Sydney does stage local events like Colour Runs, Comedy Festivals, and even an Australian Beer Festival which are a great way to involve not only tourists but residents.
Tourist hotspots can raise prices for locals and drive them out of the city which in turn can drive tourists away as they may feel the area is not authentic anymore. This has to be balanced carefully.
High tourist areas have to be well managed and efficiently run to ensure that public facilities and amenities are of a high standard. This can be a burden to the State Government who have to ensure there is funding for this.
This report suggests that there are many positive impacts of tourism and Tourism New South Wales markets Sydney to take advantage of the benefits to the economy, as well as providing job opportunities. This economic boost can benefit the local community as world-class venues are developed. After the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, there was a great sense of national pride as the world got to see Sydney and its many attractions. The games were a success and Sydney is said to still be reaping the benefits of hosting the games.
Litter In Sydney
This image is of the rush hour in Sydney caused by the low amount of public transport.
How could the impacts be resolved?
This report suggests that Sydney's growing population transport and congestion are a major problem. The following recommendations are made to help resolve Sydney’s growing population and public transport congestion. Train travel needs to be more efficient to encourage people to take the train to work rather than driving.
Train travel, if it’s efficient, will be beneficial to the environment and less stressful than driving and finding parking.
Although there is a lot of public transport in Sydney, there is not enough. With all the people traveling out of the city, and all the tourists getting around, public transport (especially trains) become very congested. To improve this, more trains and ferries could be operating in the rush hours to allow people to be transported more quickly and efficiently.
This report suggests tourists will be discouraged from visiting Sydney if its transport problems aren’t solved. Sydney residents need to be able to get to workplaces and homes easily.
Social impacts of tourism
It can be concluded that the residents in high tourist areas could be disturbed by all the tourists getting around. As mentioned above congestion of public transport can be stressful for residents. Although there are job opportunities in Sydney if people have to leave home very early and get home very late from work they will eventually find living in Sydney to be too demanding and will eventually want to move away.
Conclusions that can be drawn are people won't feel they are part of their community then crime can increase and people won't feel as if they belong. The culture of the area will soon be affected.
Basic goods can be more expensive in high tourist areas which can also cause social problems for residents.
Conclusion
This report has demonstrated how tourism impacts Sydney physically and socially and how there is an interconnection between the demands of tourism and its residents.
It can be concluded that although Sydney is impacted by a rising population and a strain on its transport system there are proposals in place to improve this.