Case Study: Visitor Perceptions of Captive Wildlife Tourism in a Western Australian Natural Setting

Wildlife tourism involves a broad sweep of experiences that includes all of the aspects of the tourism genre with the distinguishing feature of animals as the primary attraction. The uniqueness of Australian wildlife in combination with factors such as remoteness and rarity appear to have provided t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hughes, Michael, Newsome, D., Macbeth, J.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Channel View Publications 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23469
_version_ 1848751160174837760
author Hughes, Michael
Newsome, D.
Macbeth, J.
author_facet Hughes, Michael
Newsome, D.
Macbeth, J.
author_sort Hughes, Michael
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Wildlife tourism involves a broad sweep of experiences that includes all of the aspects of the tourism genre with the distinguishing feature of animals as the primary attraction. The uniqueness of Australian wildlife in combination with factors such as remoteness and rarity appear to have provided the ideal context for successful wildlife tourism operations. Barna Mia, located in a large remnant woodland in the central southern wheatbelt of Western Australia, is approximately 165 km southeast of the state's capital, Perth. Dryandra Woodland, the location of Barna Mia, consists of a closely grouped and connected cluster of native remnant vegetation blocks. The enclosure is surrounded by electrified, vermin proof fencing to keep feral predators out and the captive fauna in. The results of the visitor survey at Barna Mia suggested the experience provided a great sense of satisfaction amongst respondents. This was both in terms of the overall satisfaction as well as satisfaction with specific parts of the experience. The feeling of being "in the wild" may have been enhanced by the lack of barriers between visitors and the animals and the absence of constraints on animal movement through the enclosure. Improving the operation of Barna Mia as an attraction in itself and as part of the Dryandra Woodland product may serve to improve its success as an attraction. However, an innately attractive tourism experience cannot work without appropriate integration within the specific wildlife tourism product of Dryandra Woodland, while coordination with tourism on a regional scale is also important.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T07:48:18Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-23469
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:48:18Z
publishDate 2005
publisher Channel View Publications
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-234692017-02-27T14:48:03Z Case Study: Visitor Perceptions of Captive Wildlife Tourism in a Western Australian Natural Setting Hughes, Michael Newsome, D. Macbeth, J. rare marsupials Barna Mia visitor satisfaction - Dryandra Woodland captive wildlife tourism Wildlife tourism involves a broad sweep of experiences that includes all of the aspects of the tourism genre with the distinguishing feature of animals as the primary attraction. The uniqueness of Australian wildlife in combination with factors such as remoteness and rarity appear to have provided the ideal context for successful wildlife tourism operations. Barna Mia, located in a large remnant woodland in the central southern wheatbelt of Western Australia, is approximately 165 km southeast of the state's capital, Perth. Dryandra Woodland, the location of Barna Mia, consists of a closely grouped and connected cluster of native remnant vegetation blocks. The enclosure is surrounded by electrified, vermin proof fencing to keep feral predators out and the captive fauna in. The results of the visitor survey at Barna Mia suggested the experience provided a great sense of satisfaction amongst respondents. This was both in terms of the overall satisfaction as well as satisfaction with specific parts of the experience. The feeling of being "in the wild" may have been enhanced by the lack of barriers between visitors and the animals and the absence of constraints on animal movement through the enclosure. Improving the operation of Barna Mia as an attraction in itself and as part of the Dryandra Woodland product may serve to improve its success as an attraction. However, an innately attractive tourism experience cannot work without appropriate integration within the specific wildlife tourism product of Dryandra Woodland, while coordination with tourism on a regional scale is also important. 2005 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23469 Channel View Publications fulltext
spellingShingle rare marsupials
Barna Mia
visitor satisfaction
- Dryandra Woodland
captive wildlife tourism
Hughes, Michael
Newsome, D.
Macbeth, J.
Case Study: Visitor Perceptions of Captive Wildlife Tourism in a Western Australian Natural Setting
title Case Study: Visitor Perceptions of Captive Wildlife Tourism in a Western Australian Natural Setting
title_full Case Study: Visitor Perceptions of Captive Wildlife Tourism in a Western Australian Natural Setting
title_fullStr Case Study: Visitor Perceptions of Captive Wildlife Tourism in a Western Australian Natural Setting
title_full_unstemmed Case Study: Visitor Perceptions of Captive Wildlife Tourism in a Western Australian Natural Setting
title_short Case Study: Visitor Perceptions of Captive Wildlife Tourism in a Western Australian Natural Setting
title_sort case study: visitor perceptions of captive wildlife tourism in a western australian natural setting
topic rare marsupials
Barna Mia
visitor satisfaction
- Dryandra Woodland
captive wildlife tourism
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23469