Visitor Management (TOUR7031)

Select a suitable visitor attraction and conduct a critique of the site in terms of visitor learning experiences and visitor management. 

You CANNOT choose the Queensland Museum as we will be visiting this site as a field trip.

You will be doing this from the perspective of ONE particular target market of your choice (e.g. primary school children on field trips; families with teenage children; international tourists on a tour etc). 

You are required to:

• Select a visitor site that offers some level or type of visitor learning. You will need to visit the site to complete the analysis.
• Using the guidelines from our field trip to the Queensland Museum, write a critique of the interpretation and visitor facilities at your chosen site.
• Please include photographs to illustrate your points, including a selfie of you at your site.

PART 1: BACKGROUND (approx. 700 words)

• Describe the site – what is it (museum, national park etc), where is it, how long has it been there etc.
• Provide a map or diagram of the site
• Choose ONE target market that you will be using as the basis of your report and briefly discuss their likely motives and interests.

PART 2: CRITIQUE (approx. 1,500 words)

• Drawing from relevant lecture content and readings, note how well the site is likely to meet the needs and interests of the ONE target market you have identified. Elements you could discuss:
• Entrance/sense of welcome
• Visitor facilities
• Visitor comfort
• Orientation (internal and external directional signs)
• Visitor activities
• Interpretation
• Maintenance
• Highlight the areas and aspects that are done well and those that could be improved. Justify this with your on-site observations and photographs.

PART 3: RECOMMENDATIONS (approx. 800 words)

• Provide suggestions/recommendations for improvements to the identified weaknesses. You can also provide suggestions for how the site can further improve their strengths. 

Recommendations should clearly link to the needs and preferences of the ONE target market you have selected.  Clearly state what is recommended and how to achieve this. For example, it is insufficient to say there are no multi-lingual signs so the recommendation is to install multi-lingual signs. Rather, you should be stating WHY multilingual would be beneficial, WHERE they should be placed and WHAT specific languages should be considered.

AI STATEMENT

This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.

A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.

Word Count: Approx. 3,500

This is an individual assignment that requires you to design an ORIGINAL tourism/event or hospitality facility. Choose from one of the following categories:

• a theme park, zoo, or cultural attraction
• a museum, art gallery or historic building
• a resort, health spa, hotel/casino complex (NOT A GYM)
• an entertainment complex

PART 1: Introduction (500-600 words)

Overview of proposal:

• an overview of the design concept.
• brief background information about the location of your facility and its surroundings.
• explanation of facility name.

Target Market, motives & interests

In this section you should identify ONE market segment that you feel will be particularly attracted to the facility that you are proposing:

• Who are they, what are they interested in?
• Why is your facility likely to attract this market? Why do you think your proposal will be successful? Here you should briefly justify with literature dealing with the type of facility that you are proposing. The literature can include trade journals, media reports and non-academic sources if relevant.

PART 2: Design elements (approx. 3,000 words)

Theme (approx. 200 words)

• What are the underlying concept or ideas linking the elements together?
• What is the key thing you want visitors to think, feel or do as a result of visiting your facility?

Layout and Orientation (approx. 800 words)

• Design a map or site plan of the facility. Describe and justify your layout.
• Describe the different ‘areas’ and explain how the site has been designed to facilitate visitor use, flows and movement.
• If relevant, explain how you would manage queues, crowding and capacity issues.

Design elements (approx. 1,500 words)

• Describe how you intend to use ambient features (lighting, music, colour, décor) to support your theme and enhance your visitors’ experiences.
• Describe the activities and experiences that will be offered. Explain how these support your theme.
• Provide photos and diagrams to illustrate your design ideas.

Managing Impacts (approx. 500 words)

Describe how you will manage the on-site visitor experience:

• Identify one environmental impact and one socio-cultural impact that your facility could create. These can be both positive, both negative, or one of each. Any combination can be used but please only identify two impacts in total.
• Explain what visitor management strategies you would use to minimise/maximise the two identified impacts.

REFERENCE LIST 

APPENDICES (OPTIONAL)

Please insert illustrations into the text of your assignment. The appendices are for diagrams, graphs or tables you would like to refer to as supporting information. Appendices and references are not included in the word limit.

AI STATEMENT

This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.

A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.