ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates the activities of the key tourism industry players influencing travel by Australians to the Whitsundays and the Mamanucas and the relative competitiveness of the two regions. Similarities and contrasts are brought out between outbound (that is, international) air-inclusive holiday travel from Australia and domestic air-inclusive travel. The statistics on flows and visitor profiles presented in the two previous chapters are compared and the current and potential selection of competitive strategies by industry players and by the destinations are assessed. Special attention is paid to industry structure, to the regulatory framework in which it functions and to the roles of the various players. Whilst the Australian market has a number of distinct characteristics, the chapter provides a useful point of comparison for ‘pleasure peripheries’ in other parts of the world. It raises key issues about the relationship between short-haul destinations and source markets, and about how such relationships are being influenced by changing industry structure.
