Australian Tourist Attractions: The Links between Organizational Characteristics and Planning

Abstract

An exploration of the links between the characteristics of Australian tourist attractions and the amount of planning undertaken by attraction managers was conducted. Using a detailed mail survey (N = 407, response rate = 26.7%), a categorization indicating four planning levels was devised: nonplanners, short-term planners, short- and long-term planners, and long-term planners. Attractions with greater levels of planning were shown to have higher levels of perceived performance and faced the future with better growth prospects and business confidence. They also reported higher management turnover. Attraction research, it was argued, needs to develop with studies from different regions and histories to test the value of specific findings. In addition, multimethod approaches are needed to disentangle causality issues linking planning and attraction characteristics.