Cultural Heritage Tourism Opportunities in Greenbushes, Western Australia

Introduction and Aims

This study provides an evaluation of Greenbushes 6254, Western Australia, to best determine how to preserve its culture and heritage in order to attract more tourists to use the local hotels, shops, and businesses. To this end, the study identifies those factors that have been shown to motivate cultural-heritage tourists to visit various destinations. An evaluation of the potential for Greenbushes 6254 to promote its cultural-heritage tourism features — while preserving its existing attractor factors with the support of Lotterywest grants and community engagement — is followed by an outline of the study's methodology and a description of the data collection process. A discussion concerning the special expertise required for the study is followed by a summary of the research and its key findings in the conclusion.

The overarching aim of the study was to identify opportunities for the community leaders of Bridgetown-Greenbushes to promote their shire as a cultural-heritage tourism destination while preserving those cultural-heritage elements that make their community a desirable destination in the first place. In support of this overarching aim, the study had three main objectives:

1. Deliver a comprehensive, critical review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning cultural-heritage tourism in general and cultural-heritage tourism in rural Australian communities in particular.

2. Develop and administer a custom survey instrument to a population of Australian consumers concerning their views about cultural-heritage tourism and which attractor factors are most salient in attracting tourists to a rural destination.

3. Deliver a synthesis of the secondary and primary data to provide recommendations for the community leaders of Greenbushes concerning cultural-heritage developmental initiatives.

The global travel and tourism industry has experienced phenomenal growth over the past few decades (Confer & Kerstettler 2000). Indeed, increasing numbers of tourists are traveling at home and abroad, and worldwide spending on travel and tourism has more than doubled in recent years (Confer & Kerstettler 2000). One of the fastest-growing segments of the global travel and tourism industry is cultural-heritage tourism. According to Huibin and Marzuki (2013, p. 51), "In the field of tourism study, cultural heritage has been regarded as one of the most important attractions. The great charms with irresistible temptations from cultural heritage destinations have been enthralling tourists all over the world." In sum, cultural-heritage tourism concerns the "cultural traditions, places and values that … groups throughout the world are proud to conserve. Cultural traditions such as family patterns, religious practices, folklore traditions, and social customs attract individuals interested in heritage" (Confer & Kerstettler 2000, p. 28).

Background: Greenbushes and Its Heritage Assets

This study was guided by the following research questions:

1. What are the major attractor factors for rural destinations in Australia such as Bridgetown-Greenbushes?

2. What current attractor factors does Bridgetown-Greenbushes have that can be used to promote the community as a cultural-heritage destination?

3. What types of grants are available from Lotterywest to promote cultural-heritage tourism to Bridgetown-Greenbushes?

4. How can the community leaders in Bridgetown-Greenbushes use the available resources to improve cultural-heritage tourism arrivals in the future?

Although it was once an independent shire, the Shire of Bridgetown recently incorporated the Shire of Greenbushes, creating Bridgetown-Greenbushes (Greenbushes 2004). The site of Greenbushes proper is located about 250 kilometres south of Perth and just 17 kilometres from Bridgetown. The community depends on the mining and timber industries, as well as tourism and farming (Greenbushes 2004). According to the promotional material provided by the Bridgetown-Greenbushes website, "Our beautiful region is the jewel in the crown of the South-West. Located literally in the centre of the South-West, you are close to forests and National Parks, wineries, heritage walks and trails, and some of the state's most stunning heritage buildings. Bridgetown was recognised as a 'Heritage Town' in 2000" (About the Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes 2014, p. 1). The Bridgetown-Greenbushes website does not feature any upcoming events, but it does provide two pictures of attractor factors — a historic bridge and a farm.

Some relevant statistics for the Bridgetown-Greenbushes community are as follows: the shire is located approximately 269 km from Perth, has 247.71 km of sealed roads and 553.58 km of unsealed roads, an estimated population of 4,670, 3,158 electors, 2,176 dwellings, total rates of $3,102,960, 49 full-time equivalent employees, total revenue of $6,999,505, 58,625 hectares of state forest, and a total area of 1,691 square kilometres.

From a cultural-heritage perspective, Greenbushes has something to offer domestic and foreign visitors. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, "Greenbushes is an interesting and unusual old timber and mining town" (Greenbushes 2014). Part of the current charm of the Greenbushes community is its "wild west" character. As The Sydney Morning Herald reports, "The Greenbushes is really an old mining town. It came into existence in 1888 after tin had been found in the district by a Mines Department surveyor in 1886" (Greenbushes 2014, p. 3).

The Bunbury Tin Mining company was Greenbushes' first enterprise, and following its establishment, several other companies followed suit (Greenbushes 2014). The community's fortunes have been inextricably interrelated to the mining industry ever since. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that "The town boomed until 1893 when a world slump in the price of tin saw the local industry collapse. Since then the town's population and productivity have fluctuated according to the demand and price of the metal" (Greenbushes 2014). The 1904 census for Greenbushes provides some indication of the demographics of the community at the fin de siècle. The Sydney Morning Herald notes that the 1904 census included "159 miners who were serviced by 9 storekeepers, 8 builders, 2 tin smiths, 7 carpenters, solicitors, mining agents, chemists, butchers, tailors, bootmakers, bakers and a blacksmith" (Greenbushes 2014, p. 3). A decade later, the community's population had grown to 2,000, with about 25% of residents employed in the burgeoning timber industry (Greenbushes 2014).

The Bridgetown-Greenbushes community has several other valuable cultural-heritage attractor factors available to help promote the shire, including the Geegelup Heritage Trail, which interprets the "Exploration and settlement of the Bridgetown-Greenbushes District," including the 1891 post office (privately operated for the past 44 years), the 1907 Roads Board Office (the site of one of the early mines), and the Greenbushes Historical Park, which presents an interpretation of the community's colorful history as a centre for tin mining (Greenbushes 2014). According to The Sydney Morning Herald, "In the park are old pieces of machinery as well as a mine shaft with a head frame and a replica of a prospector's hut. The town's mining past is also recalled in a series of information boards which were placed around the town in 1988 to help visitors understand what the town was like when it was booming and successful" (Greenbushes 2014, p. 3). Interested tourists can still arrange visits to the Whittaker's Timber Mill (although active mining operations have been shut down) and the Greenbushes Tin Mine by making inquiries with local merchants (Greenbushes 2014). The community's hotels include the Exchange Hotel and the Shamrock Hotel, both of which feature restaurants (Greenbushes 2014).

The Greenbushes community is in dire need of expanded travel and tourism opportunities. Just a few years ago, Whittakers Timber Products was widely regarded as one of the largest sawmill and processing operations in Western Australia's enormously valuable hardwood industry. According to Garnett (2013), however, the Whittakers Timber Products mill ceased operations in 2013, and the full economic impact of the closure — through the loss of hundreds of jobs — has been severe. In this regard, Schirmer (2009, p. 14) emphasises that "The Whittakers' mill closure represents a stark departure from the trends in 2005–2006 when the forestry industry in Western Australia employed more than 5,500 people, with approximately 16 per cent based in Bridgetown-Greenbushes, and provided economic benefits in excess of $1 billion to the state each year." There have also been tin-sluicing operations at Greenbushes since 1888, but production levels have historically been on a very limited scale (Crowley 1960).

Therefore, identifying new cultural-heritage tourism opportunities for this community represents a timely and valuable enterprise. In addition to its heritage assets, one of the major draws that the shire features in its visitors' centre is a collection of more than 100 completed jigsaw puzzles — the largest such collection in the Southern Hemisphere. This collection may provide a springboard for the shire's cultural-heritage tourism efforts. According to Staiff (2003, p. 143), "There are 60 army museums in Australia. Equally impressive are the enormous number of town/regional museums that are often described as 'amateur' collections of the paraphernalia of recent domestic/town life." Therefore, the potential exists for the community to use this jigsaw puzzle collection to stage an annual jigsaw puzzle completion contest or similar event to raise awareness of Bridgetown-Greenbushes as a destination of choice for cultural-heritage tourists in Western Australia.

Review of Cultural-Heritage Tourism Literature

Lotterywest represents a significant funding resource for communities such as Greenbushes. Every year, Lotterywest awards 1,000 grants totalling more than $100,000,000 for community-development purposes (Working for you 2014). According to Lotterywest's website, "The volume of our grants and the number of organisations we support provides us with a unique vantage point. Collectively we collaborate on all kinds of ideas and projects to find ways to maximise the benefit to communities" (Working for you 2014, p. 2). The award of a grant by Lotterywest typically requires a concomitant investment by the community (Working for you 2014). Many past grants awarded by Lotterywest were specifically targeted at cultural-heritage-related initiatives, including support for heritage trail interpretation plans, interpretive signage at historic museums, multicultural celebration events, and regional historical society conferences.

Identifying new cultural-heritage tourism opportunities requires a clear understanding of what constitutes a tourist attraction. As Lew (2011, p. 554) emphasises, "Without tourist attractions there would be no tourism. Without tourism there would be no tourist attractions. Although a tautology, such an argument still points to the fundamental importance of tourist attractions and the attractiveness of places to tourism." The research to date has produced some mixed views about what constitutes the fundamental concept of "tourist attraction," with terminology including "exploitable resources," "marketable products," "images," place "attributes," and "features" (Lew 2011). Despite the differing terminology, there is a general consensus that attractions represent the basic components of tourism development (Lew 2011).

According to Lew (2011, p. 555), "In essence, tourist attractions consist of all those elements of a 'non-home' place that draw discretionary travellers away from their homes. They usually include landscapes to observe, activities to participate in, and experiences to remember." Likewise, Palmer and Wolff (2008) cite the prevailing practice of dividing tourism into different types, including cultural-heritage tourism, but the majority of the research focuses on what features of a destination are sufficiently compelling to attract people from their homes. Palmer and Wolff (2008, p. 215) report that, "Although there are many ways of creating 'categories of tourist attractions,' most studies focused on tourist attractors attempt to answer the question: 'What are the forces that cause people to leave home during their leisure time?'"

Despite this general consensus, differentiating tourist attractions from non-attractions can be problematic because some resources can serve in both capacities. For instance, Lew (2011, p. 555) points out that "Transportation (e.g., cruise liners), accommodations (e.g., resorts), and other services (e.g., restaurants) can themselves take on the attributes of an attraction, further complicating the distinction between various segments of the tourism industry. At times, tourists themselves can even become attractions."

It is therefore possible for communities such as Greenbushes to promote local resources in ways that will make them tourist attractions. According to Lew (2011), one definition requires just three basic elements to qualify as a tourist attraction: (a) tourists, (b) a site to be viewed, and (c) a marker or image that interprets the site's significance. As Lew (2011, p. 555) points out, "These criteria could enable virtually anything to become a tourist attraction." Consequently, viewed in its most expanded context, tourist attractions can include the types of attractions typically associated with the term (historic sites, amusement parks, and spectacular scenery) as well as the facilities and services that serve the tourist population (Lew 2011). In addition, tourist attractions can also include "the social institutions which form the basis for the very existence of human habitation" (Lew 2011, p. 555).

Taken together, there are several aspects of Greenbushes that can be used to promote cultural-heritage tourism, but it is important to understand precisely what the terminology means. Palmer and Wolff (2008, p. 217) point out that "The 'cultural' part of the term 'cultural heritage' requires that the category include a distinctiveness, regardless of what else may distinguish the category of people." While there remains some controversy among travel and tourism scholars concerning the best approach to defining "heritage," there is a general consensus that in order to satisfy the criteria for a cultural-heritage destination, the "heritage" aspect of the attractor must be regarded as possessing a specific temporal dimension, because "strictly speaking, heritage refers to that which has been or may be inherited" (Palmer & Wolff 2008, p. 218). This means that the community leaders in Greenbushes will need to identify some dimension of their heritage — such as the shire's long-time mining history — that can be used to attract additional tourists to the region.

In sum, Greenbushes may already possess the attractors needed to generate additional travel and tourism, but it has not adequately promoted them for this purpose.

The secondary data needed for the study was collected using a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning cultural-heritage tourism in general and for rural Australian communities in particular. The primary data was collected using an online custom survey instrument hosted by SurveyMonkey, designed to assess potential cultural-heritage tourists' views concerning desirable attractor factors. The use of both secondary and primary data is highly congruent with the guidance provided by Dennis and Harris (2002, p. 39), who advise: "Primary data are information that is being collected for the first time in order to address a specific research problem. This means that it is likely to be directly relevant to the research, unlike secondary data, which may be out of date or collected for a totally different purpose. Ideally, an effective research project should incorporate both primary and secondary data."

The design of the custom survey required special expertise. Accordingly, the guidance provided by Neuman (2003) was followed, encompassing six structured steps: (1) developing research questions, deciding on the survey type, writing questions, deciding on response categories, and designing the layout; (2) planning how to record data; (3) deciding on the target population, obtaining a sampling frame, deciding on sample size, and selecting the sample; (4) locating respondents, administering the survey, and carefully recording data; (5) entering data into computers, rechecking all data, and performing statistical analysis; and (6) describing methods and findings in the research report and presenting findings to others for critique and evaluation (Neuman 2003, p. 268).

A proforma copy of the finalized online survey instrument is provided in Appendix A.

Research involving human participants always introduces ethical issues (Neuman 2003). Therefore, all survey respondents were assured of their anonymity and informed that they could withdraw from participation in the survey at any point with no repercussions whatsoever.