Understanding Ethnic Tourists - the Tjapukai experienceWhat is ethnic tourism?

Ethnic tourism is when travellerschoose to experience first hand thepractices of another culture, and mayinvolve performances, presentationsand attractions portraying or presentedby small, often isolated Indigenouscommunities. Examples of communitiesthat attract tourists for this reasoninclude the Amish communities of theUnited States, the First Nation societiesof Canada and North America, theMaori of New Zealand, Australia’sAboriginal communities, the Bushmenof South Africa and the Ibo tribes ofIndonesia.

Why is it important to understandethnic tourism?

Australian tourism - particularly in the1990s - has promoted images of Aborigi-nal people and culture to most of itsoverseas markets, including Germany,Japan, the United Kingdom and theUnited States. However, this promotionhas been built upon a very limited baseof successful long-standing Aboriginaltourism products.

Aboriginal ethnic tourism develop-ments in Australia (mostly confined to

Queensland and the Northern Territory)are usually small scale and marginal intheir profitability. As such, it is impor-tant to understand why people visitethnic attractions and the sorts of thingsthat contribute to a satisfying visit. Thisunderstanding will help ethnic tourismoperators to make their venture moreprofitable and successful.

Currently most visitors to ethnictourism attractions do so as a secondaryactivity to other attractions in a region,such as visiting natural areas like theGreat Barrier Reef or the Wet TropicsRainforest.

Dr Gianna Moscardo and ProfessorPhilip Pearce looked at the sorts ofpeople who visited a large Aboriginal

tourism attraction near Cairns in northQueensland - the Tjapukai AboriginalCultural Park. This was an academicstudy not commissioned by the Park.This is the first study of its kind in theworld; other studies have looked at theexperience from the perspective of theethnic tourism operators - this studylooks at it from the perspective of thetourists visiting the ethnic operation.

Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park

The Tjapukai operation opened in 1996after the success of a Dance Theatre inthe nearby rainforest village ofKuranda. It covers ten acres andincludes several performances andactivities for visitors. The three mainattractions are:

• The Creation theatre which com-bines live performers and lasertechnology to present the Aborigi-nal perspective on the creation ofhumans

• The History theatre which runs afilm on Aboriginal history in thearea since European settlement

• The Dance theatre which presents amixture of traditional Aboriginaldancing with information onculture and music.

Above: Aboriginal staff conducting a BushFood session which provides a popularattraction at the park.

Left: Tourists participating in Didgeridoosessions with Aboriginal musicians. Spearand boomerang throwing sessions also givevisitors the opportunity for personalinteraction.

Right: The shop at Tjapukai provides anoutlet for authentic Aboriginal productsand art (photographs courtesy of Tjapukai)

May 1999

Other performances include Bush Foodand Didgeridoo shows. Visitors can alsotry their hand at spear and boomerangthrowing. Virtually all park staff visibleto the public are Aboriginal and visitorscan interact with Aboriginal peopleduring and after Dance theatre perfor-mances, at the boomerang and spearthrowing areas and at various placesthroughout the park.

Surveying visitors to Tjapukai

A survey of visitors to Tjapukai wasconducted over a two month period toinclude peak and off-peak touristseasons. Researchers were seeking thefollowing information from the survey:• socio-demographic information

plus general information abouttheir visit − type of transport, placeof ticket purchase, sources ofinformation, reasons for visit,previous experience with Aborigi-nal tourism products

• measures of general travel benefits,previous experience with ethnictourism products in other coun-tries, importance of various aspectsof ethnic tourism

• overall satisfaction with Tjapukaiexperience and the various featuresof the park

The sample of visitors surveyed (1483people) was spread evenly across allage groups with couples and organisedtour groups dominating. Seventypercent of the sample were internationalvisitors mostly from North Americaand Europe.

One quarter of the sample had previ-ously seen an Aboriginal dance perfor-mance and nearly half had visited anAboriginal art centre. Many (43%) hadexperienced ethnic tourism products inother countries.

The survey results were used to grouptourists into four main groups asfollows:Ethnic tourism connection group (36%)Passive cultural learning (24%)Ethnic products and activities (18%)Low ethnic interest (16%)

Factors which were used to determinedifferent levels of interest or reasons forvisiting the park and participating inethnic tourism attractions were:- Interest in contact with ethnic people- Interest in learning about ethnic cultures- Average age- Reason for travel- Reasons for visiting Tjapukai- Participation in activities- Interest in visiting Aboriginal communities in region- Overall satisfaction with the Tjapukai experience

Implications for ethnic tourism

The largest group, the Ethnic TourismGroup, is most interested in havingpersonal contact with ethnic people andare likely participants in tourismproducts which offer such opportuni-ties. The Passive Cultural LearningGroup is interested in ethnic tourismbut prefers experiences that focus oncultural learning rather than personalcontact. The Ethnic Products andActivities group are more interested inparticipating in traditional activities(such as spear throwing, bush cooking,etc.) than in learning about ethniccultures or having a personal contactwith them. The Low Ethnic Tourismgroup are most likely to visit an Abo-riginal tourism attraction as part of atour or because someone else in theirparty wanted to visit.

However, all four groups showed ahigh to very high level of satisfaction intheir visit to Tjapukai and were also

interested in further ethnic tourismexperiences. Even those with littleinterest in ethnic tourism products andpersonal contact with Aboriginal peoplereported having a positive and enjoy-able experience.

One reason for most visitors reporting ahigh level of satisfaction may be due tothe very nature of Tjapukai. The parkallows visitors to travel at their ownpace, to select their own level of contactwith Aboriginal people and to followtheir own interests. This variety andchoice of experience seems to beimportant in making ethnic tourismproducts successful.

Two important points can be made fromthis study. The first is that tourists dodiffer in terms of the experience theyseek in ethnic tourism situations.Secondly, some visitors may seepersonal ethnic contact as difficult oruncomfortable. This is largely due topeople being concerned that they won’tunderstand Aboriginal people, that theymay say the wrong thing, or that theydon’t wish to appear ignorant.

If ethnic groups seek to use tourism totheir advantage, it is important thatthey understand how tourists are likelyto respond to the products they de-velop. The information provided by thisstudy is useful for ethnic tourismgroups looking to package their tourismproducts more appropriately. Inparticular, ethnic tourism attractionsshould seek to provide a number ofalternative experiences in the one venuewhere visitors can choose what they doand see and what degree of personalcontact they have with their hosts.

For further information:Dr Gianna Moscardo, James CookUniversity, phone: (07) 4781 4254;fax: (07) 4781 4019;email: gianna.moscardo@jcu.edu.au