Australia Tourism - the Heart of its Culture and People

Australia's coast including islands supports more than 85 percent of the population and is approximately 60000 km long. Australia's mangroves line approximately 6000 km of Australia's coast, the third largest area of mangroves in the world, providing habitat for table fish and bait fish. Australia is the largest island in the world and offers endless surfing beaches. The most populated areas of Australia's coast are central and northern NSW, south east Melbourne, south east Queensland and south western Australia.

But 70% of Australia's coast is still sparsely populated. Australia's humpback whale population is increasing up to 13% each year. Cyclones occur regularly on Australia's top end as well as the South West coast. The west Australian coast is well known for its bountiful marine life and natural beauty. The coast between western Australia and South Australia gets pounded by big waves being completely open to the forces of nature.

Over 536,000 jobs are created from tourism in Australia and is a 74 billion dollar industry. Tourism in Australia employs more than half a million Australians and is the largest industry in the Queenland sunshine state. Millions of overseas and interstate visitors flock to holiday and travel in Australia each year to marvel at such wonders as the Great Barrier Reef, Ayres Rock and the beautiful cities, national parks and beaches. Tourism in Australia is the largest industry on the Great Barrier Reef followed by recreational and commercial fishing.

Tourism in Australia is defined as all those businesses that provides services and goods for pleasure , leisure and business that take people out of the home environment to travel and holiday in Australia. Tourism products in Australia come in all different shapes and sizes from backpacker resorts, bed and breakfasts, camping and caravan parks to five star hotels.

Tourism in Western Australia is different from the rest of the country without the noise and traffic of the cities busy streets and tourism trade noise. Tourism in Western Australia enjoys such diversity in animals, places and people and is aimed at people that want to get back to nature. People choose to travel and holiday in Western Australia for the green trees, red rocks and blue oceans that make Western Australia a nature lovers paradise.

Much of Australia is too dry and hot. Therefore the climate determines where and how people can travel and holiday in Australia, so it is no surprise that most Australians live near the coast. Most of Australia's major cities are located on the coast except Canberra, as well as many large towns. Many people in retirement retreat to the coast for a quieter lifestyle without stress. One of Australia's major issues is over population of its coastline, do we want to use it or preserve it? But the coast and beaches make up the fabric of the average Australian's lifestyle, so Australia must find a way to strike a balance between preservation and development.

The first person to use the term Australia was Matthew Flinders, one of Australia's most gifted cartographers and navigators. He referred to New Holland, Van Dieman's Land and New South Wales as Australia.

Australia's coast is the fabric of its tourism, social and economic prosperity, and is rich in cultural and natural resources. It contains a diverse range of ecosystems.