The Development of Backpacker Tourism in Western Australia

Background

Backpackers are Tourism's biggest spending visitors. Research has shown that on an individual basis, backpackers spend up to four times as much in Australia as do mainstream visitors, such Japanese tourists. In 1997, 240 000 backpackers spent more than 1.2 Billion Dollars during their stay in Australia. Cheaper flights and favourable exchange rates have encouraged the tremendous growth of this market with more than 400 000 backpackers expected to visit Australia in 2002.

Backpackers hold special potential for regional Australia. Already, backpackers make up more than half of all international visitors and visitor nights in some parts of regional Australia. Their tendency to roam farther afield than other types of tourists is reflected in the fact that backpackers visited an average 10.6 regions in Australia during 1995-96, compared with 2.7 regions for all visitors. However although backpackers are visiting up to four times more of Australia than other types of tourists, large sections of regional Australia continue to be bypassed altogether

Our preliminary research indicates that regional Western Australia represents the "Sleeping Beauty" of Australia's Backpacker Phenomenon. While an increasing number of backpackers visit Australia each year, the benefits of this form of tourism have accrued disproportionate to the Eastern half of the continent. However, there appears to be considerable scope for improving the Western Australia's share of backpackers as this situation appears neither caused by the lack of physical attractions on offer in the region nor by the lack of an existing infrastructure. Instead, the reasons for the relatively low number of backpackers departing from the main existing Eastern States traveller circuit can be traced to the internal dynamics of the subculture itself.

It appears that the movement of backpacker streams and the construction of subcultural itineraries are governed not simply by the convenience of transport or the existence of a physical backpacker infrastructure but also by the social environment at a destination. Whereas the myth of the intrepid traveller still persists today, the institutionalisation of subcultural travel has attracted large numbers of individuals less concerned with the exploration of the unknown than the opportunity to interact with each other during the course of their journey. Therefore, the existence of vibrant meeting places en-route represents a crucial component for destination choice for this segment of the tourism market.

Hardy (1990:541) noted that touristic activity generally is determined both by the setting in which it takes place and by the visitor's own search for novelty and excitement. Schwartz (1991:591) observed that, unlike tourists who primarily form relationships within their group, travellers depend upon relationships established with others along the road. Given that socialising with other backpackers has gained a pre-eminent position as far as activity-choice is concerned, it is obvious that locations where the opportunity exists to interact with each other are like "magnets in a flow of charged particles".

Once ‘centres’ are established in backpackers' eyes as desirable destinations to visit for their social as well their touristic qualities, news of the their existence is communicated not only throughout Australia but around the globe in a matter of weeks by word of mouth and the wonders of the Internet. Confirmed by those who follow in their footsteps as "happening" destinations, a trickle of visitors is capable of turning into a veritable flood over a short space of time, causing existing travel-routes to alter their course. If the desired social interaction can be continued and the setting remains socially and environmentally sustainable, destinations become "must see" magnets on the subcultural itinerary and can be assured of a continuous flow of backpackers for many years to come.

Conversely, in the absence of those social magnets, the promotion of other attractions will rarely suffice to induce backpackers away from existing routes, in particular when their stay is likely to represent the final part of an already long and physically taxing journey. This appears to be presently the situation as exists in regional Western Australia. Whereas not lacking the potential to attract significantly larger numbers in future, it is the absence of clearly identifiable backpacker destinations of the nature described above that has stunted the growth of the industry in W.A. Unfortunately, no amount of ad hoc promotion is likely to compensate for the lack of suitable subcultural meeting places and it is the absence of those "magnets" that frequently tends to convince backpackers to bypass the entire region.

From the above it appears that although vitally important, little is known about the role of backpacker centres as subcultural meeting places, way stations and attractions in their own right. Similarly, few studies have thoroughly investigated the way backpackers construct their itinerary, declare destinations desirable or passé and the role of a destination's atmosphere in this process. Even less is known about the nature of the subculture's ideology and internal dynamics.

This project is based on the fact that special interest groups such as backpackers require special marketing tools but even those tools will be ineffective unless the special needs/interests of the market are recognised - and that is where the mythical traveller centre is absolutely vital. The basic aim of the completed first stage of this study has been to find answers to those central issues. In order to do so, we have investigated the qualitative factors influencing backpacker’s travel decisions, including the reasons for destination choice before and after arrival and the role of traveller-centres as part of this process. The study is further concerned with examining the nature of information networks such as Guidebooks, word of mouth and Internet and their utilisation by backpackers. Parts of this aspect of the research are ongoing and will be picked up by the project being proposed in this document.

Our current research on the nature of traveller centres will feed into this objective. The internet research will help increase the number coming and their knowledge of where to go in W.A. More specifically, the project will investigate the nature of existing and emerging backpacker destinations in regional Western Australia as well as identifying the routes and travel needs of this exponentially growing sector of the Australian tourism market.

While Perth captures about 40% of backpackers who come to Australia only a small proportion (less than 20%) appear to go outside Perth to any given country area WA. The challenge for WA is to attract more than 41% to Perth and then ensure that there are significant subcultural traveller centres in WA outside Perth to keep them here for more of their time in Australia

Many backpackers are on working visas and desire some work, both for the money and the contact with the 'real' Australia. Those backpackers have proven to be a willing and dependable source of itinerant labour and have greatly assisted in overcoming temporary labour shortages in agricultural regions in the Eastern States. Recently the federal Government, urged on by the National Farmers Federation, have significantly increased the numbers of working holiday visas to backpackers in order to overcome the cronic shortage of reliable agricultural labour during harvest times. Next year, a total of 78000 working holiday visas permitting up to 3 month continuous employment will be issued for this purpose.

However, the vast majority of those working holiday makers, like other backpackers, are likely to continue to bypass Western Australia in spite of significant seasonal employment opportunities unless additional incentives exist to make a visit to the other side of the continent appear worthwhile. Only by encouraging the emergence of a vibrant backpacker "scene" at so far neglected regional destinations in W.A. and linking those "magnets" with the national backpacker trail will it be possible for Western Australia's agricultural regions to access this additional labour force when required.

By following this strategy, regional W.A. will not only reap the immediate benefits from a dependable supply of agricultural labour for the harvest season and the economic benefits flowing from increased numbers of those visitors but also will be able to tap into the overall circuit of international backpackers for whom work opportunities do not represent a crucial factor in destination choice. A strategy of promoting "Work and Play in W.A." is crucial for catering to the diverse goals held by this target group and will assist greatly in dispelling Western Australia's current status as the Sleeping Beauty of Australia's backpacker phenomenon.

The anticipated outcomes of the research will enable previously neglected Western Australian destinations to tap into the flow of backpackers visiting Australia and provide a blueprint for the strategic development of a backpacker–specific tour and accommodation infrastructure throughout W.A. It's overall aim is to increase the number of backpackers visiting potentially promising but as yet largely bypassed destinations in regional Western Australia.

The proposed project has the potential to assist regional Western Australia to utilise backpacker tourism as a sustainable development strategy. More specifically the project aims to accomplish the following:

During 2002, research work focused on a harvest trail project for the Great Southern region of Western Australia, supported by the Great Southern Development Commission and a RAP grant. The final report from that project should be available during the first half of 2003.

Once the above has been accomplished it will be possible to develop a strategy to tap into the flow of existing backpacker streams and to assist in the creation of vibrant yet sustainable backpacker centres throughout regional Western Australia.

Also during 2003, a brief return field trip was made to Byron Bay in northern New South Wales, Australia, where various observations and interviews took place. The journal article entitled 'Backpackers and Empowered Local Communities. Natural Allies in the Struggle for Sustainability and Local Control?' is included in a 2003 issue of Tourism Geographies. This article is co-authored by Klaus Westerhausen and Jim Macbeth and was based on our original work in Byron Bay.

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