Appeal of one Destination : Sydney
Word Count: 2271 Author: Kimi Ural Created: 2015
Accessibility
Sydney is accessible from the UK through airplanes which take around 22 hours to arrive at Sydney’s airport (SYD) with usually one stop or more in between. When arriving in another part of Australia, Sydney would be easily accessible through busses, trains, cars, and taxies. All busses have ramps as well as the taxies so that wheelchair users can easily access it. Some train stations are older and therefore still only have stairs without ramps or lifts, which needs to be improved in the future so that wheelchair users can also access these places easily.
Sydney’s airport has got many facilities which could appeal to different types of customers and customer needs. For example Wheelchair users can access the airport easily through ramps outside the building and lifts inside. The airport may also appeal to other disabled visitors such as blind people because the airport allows guide and blind dogs inside the terminal. Also the toilets are easily accessible around the whole airport as it states on www.sydneyairport.com.au. Muslims are also welcome at any time at the airport, through the 2 praying rooms in the building the travellers will not have to worry about the times they will book their flight because they can still pray at the airport at the set times as usual which makes it more appealing to them. Through the free Wi-Fi on the entire platform the airport becomes appealing to teenagers such as school groups and business people who constantly need to check their emails. Sydney received over three million international overnight visitors in June 2015 according to www.destinationnsw.com.au with the majority of them arriving at Sydney’s airport. One thing Sydney’s airport could improve would be to offer more disabled toilets inside the building because if a group of disabled people would arrive at the same time, they would not be able to use the toilets quick enough and may have to wait a few minutes which could lower their satisfaction with the company.
Methods of Transport and their Frequency
Sydney’s Metro offers transportation from, to and inside the city with a train every 4 minutes. Through being the fastest transport method inside the city together with the trams, it is appealing to anyone who likes to plan out their days with a lot of activities so that they can see everything in a short time. For example habitual visitors on a short break holiday or business people who need to travel from one meeting to another in a short period of time could benefit from this offer. For $24 per adult and $12 per child travellers can enjoy a whole day of train travelling in Sydney and the surrounded area as it states on the website www.transportnsw.info. Sydney also offers a free bus service with the bus number 555 which operates 7 days a week every 10 minutes to get people around inside the city. This can be appealing to a group of students or functional visitors because they are price driven and will benefit from the free bus travel.
Attractions
Sydney has got several attractions which attract different types of customers from all over the world. Sydney offers natural attractions such as a coastal resort called Bondi Beach which is extremely popular with 40.000 visitors on a hot weekend day according to http://cdn.atbondi.com. The beach offers several activities such as surfing which could be appealing to cosmopolitans, the Bondi to Coogee costal walk which can be appealing to elderly people or couples, Flickerfest, a short film festival which may be appealing to teenagers and school groups and of course swimming or playing in the sand which appeals to any age group. Beside the activities on the actual beach, Bondi also offers a range of cultural shops for souvenirs nearby, which may be appealing to high street visitors. For future improvements the beach could install lifts or ramps for wheelchair users through the fact that there are many stairs on the way to the beach and on the tour from Bondi to Coogee, which makes it impossible for wheelchair users to attend these areas.
Sydney’s Opera House, is a purpose build which was built between 1957 and 1973, is a massive purpose build in the heart of Sydney, which attracts different types of customers not just because of its outstanding appearance but also because of the history, culture and ongoing events inside the building. The opera house offers several live acts from singers and comedians to musicals and orchestras. Through the wide range of events the opera house attracts children and teenagers through the musicals of their favourite Disney movies, school groups, couples and individuals at any age through the comedians and elderly people or any traditional visitors through the orchestra and operas. According to the website www.sydneyoperahouse.com the opera house “…attracts more than 8.2 million visitors a year and contributes more than $1 billion to the Australian economy through tourism, hospitality, travel and other activity and supports more than 12,000 jobs.” This shows how successful the attraction is already but there is always room for improvement in the future. Sydney’s opera house already offers several tours around the building in different language such as Mandarin, Japanese and Korean. However there are still many languages the tours will not cover which can be difficult is the visitor is not from any of these countries and cannot understand English either. Therefore I would suggest that the opera house needs to add more languages in to their tour packages and also have leaflets with every language on to hand out to every customer to ensure that they know what is going on and can collect a greater understanding of the history of this building.
Sydney also offers a wide range of shopping facilities for the high street tourists and business people after their meetings. The Westfield Sydney Central Plaza is one of the most popular shopping centers in Sydney with over 250 stores spread over 7 levels inside the building as it states on www.westfield.com.au. The shopping center is mainly appealing for wealthy people because of the expensive products sold inside the shopping center. Even the parking place in front of the center charges customers $20 for an hour at the weekends and $29 during the week. The shopping center is open between 9:30am and 6:30pm during the week including Saturday and 10:00am to 6:00pm on Sundays. The shopping center appeals to business people, young people with a high salary and elderly rich people because of the high quality brands they sell at the stores such as Prada, Gucci and Versace. The shopping center could improve their website by adding different languages so that long haul visitors can understand it easily if they do not speak English. The website also does not state anything about any disabled parking places or even the access in to the building (if they have ramps etc.) nor the inside if there are any lifts or other facilities wheelchair users could use. Therefore most disabled people may not choose to visit this shopping center because there is not enough information provided. Also mothers with babies will most probably not choose this destination because the center does not provide anything for children and does not state anything about available baby changing facilities. In order to raise the visitor numbers the shopping center should provide baby changing rooms, wheelchair access around the building and provide all these details on their website so that the customers can easily see what facilities and services they offer.
Destination Facilities
Many visitors come to Sydney to go to restaurants and pubs to order a traditional Australian dish such as Hamburger with beetroot. Sydney offers many high quality restaurants with excellent reviews such as the Farmhouse Kings Cross. The restaurant appeals to students, elderly people or anyone who would want to take a group of people out for a meal for example for birthdays or other celebrations through the excellent food for an affordable price. The restaurant has got excellent reviews on the website www.tripadvisor.com although some customers mentioned that the shared seating was a little minus point because people sitting in the middle would make everyone else stand up if they wanted to go somewhere which could interrupt the once standing up. Therefore the restaurant could make future improvements such as having comfortable chairs instead of benches. This would also make it easier for wheelchair users to get to the table because they would not be able to move the heavy bench
The best way to get around in Sydney or to get to or from the destination in a short radius would be by bus. Bus tickets can easily be purchased from many local shops which make it a lot easier and more time saving for the customers to buy their ticket because they can just collect a bus ticket on their way to the bus stop while getting for example a snack from the shop and pay it all together. The busses appeal to anyone who would like to travel quickly inside the city or in its surrounding because the busses are regular, cheap and easily accessible for anyone. Sydney buses also have some negative sites through the common violence inside the busses through many drunken people and the ongoing discrimination and lack of respect of some passengers. The bus companies should consider these issues and try to fix them through stricter rules and may hire a bodyguard for each bus to protect the driver and customers from getting hurt so that the customers can feel save on the vehicle. Trains are another method to travel around the city, trains would be more convenient for those travelling out of the city or into it from another one if they need to rush and have the spare money such as business visitors. The trains appeal through their fast method of getting around and wider range of operation. Sydney’s Taxies would be the best method to get from the airport to the customers hotel in the city centre for only $30 at any time seven days a week. Taxies are good for late arrivals so that visitors arriving after midnight will still be able to get to their hotel easily without having to wait till the morning or even walk for hours. Although the taxi service could have future improvements such as run more taxies with wheelchair access and bigger taxies so that a group of people will not have to book over two taxies to get to their hotel.
Sydney has got a wide range of accommodation so that every visitor type will find the right accommodation to stay in the city. For example the Rockhampton Backpackers YHA Accommodation offers a cheap and local stay for students, backpackers and functional visitors. The accommodation is only a small walk away from the Fitzroy River and the CBD with a price of $25 dollars per person per night. The accommodation appeals with the low price including free breakfast (cereal, coffee and tea), internet, TV room, and kitchen and laundry facilities. The accommodation attracts mainly price driven functional customers and single travellers because the rooms are shared with 6-8 people which makes it less appealing for a family or couple who would want to have some privacy. Although the accommodation offers some double bedrooms for couples or friends who prefer sleeping in their own room, these are more expensive with $63 per night which may make it less appealing according to the website www.backpackersworld.com. The hostel could improve through offering a wider range of food for breakfast and may be offer lunch or dinner which can be added on to their staying costs if wanted to become more appealing to long term visitors rather than just one night once. Sydney also offers self-catering accommodation such as the Mantra Chatswood which could be appealing to rich families or couple who want to be more independent and have their privacy. The accommodation attracts customers through their available facilities such as a gym, spa, sauna, outside and inside swimming pool, Wi-Fi and a bar. The Hotel may also be appealing to business people since they have a full equipped conference room including a drop down screen; whiteboard and makers; flipcharts; electronic whiteboards and data projectors according to the website www.mantra.com.au.
Climate
Sydney is one of the warmest cities with hot summers, generally warm weather around the year and mild winters which can be very appealing to European long haul visitors from the north who have got a cold winter and mild summer. The climate in Sydney is perfect for hot summer holidays and mild to warm winter holidays for the whole family. The climate appeals to elderly people for a warm relaxing holiday, discoverers to explore the nature and traditional visitors through the tradition to have a warm summer holiday each summer which the destination offers. Sydney received over 3.1 million international visitors in 2014 (www.destinationnsw.com.au) which shows the importance of good weather at the destination.
Positives
Sydney will attract many of customers throughout the year because of their consistent warm temperature during every season of the year. The holiday resort will be appealing to all customers who love swimming, lying on the beach, eating ice cream and other summer activities.
Negatives
The destination may not be appealing to some elderly people with health issues or younger people with asthma because the high temperature will make it more effort for them to breath and may result in a health hazard. Also young children may not be able to go to the destination because of the weather as well as some individuals from countries with extremely cold temperatures such as Norway because of the drastic climate change.
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*Note that this assignment has not been corrected since the date it was written for comparison purposes. The writers age was 17 & is meant to represent a Sixth Form/ College writing level.
