Tourists’ Behavior in Auckland, Essay Example

This paper has been based on the on-holiday experiences of tourists. The information has been gathered through observation of tourists in action and evaluation of their interactions with each other and locals. The behavior of the Asian travelers in Skycity casino in Auckland is shaped by their gender, age, group orientation, nationality and physical ability. It was important to visit a variety of tourist destinations in Auckland while paying particular interest to Skycity casino and make observations on the behavior of Asian tourists and evaluate their interactions with each other, the attraction site and Auckland residents.  The Sky City Complex was visited for the purpose of evaluating the nationality and gender of two Asian travellers.

The Skycity is an important center for events and casino that is located in Auklands central business district in New Zealand. The position of the Skycity is near Sky Tower and is the second city having a casino in entire New Zealand and in Auckland it is the only place where  a casino is available. The casino at Skycity in aukland operates for 24 hours every day and in all the days of the week. It is therefore a center for great excitement as well as fun and most of the tourists from Asia feel comfortable when they visit Skycity and enjoy the casino. The venue of the Skycity is also very magnificient and the casino is one of the most popular by international standards. The games are live entertainment and fantastic and bar as well as food is offered in the Skycity casino (Orsman, 2007). The Skycity serves as a responsible host for tourists and that is why majority of the Asian tourists are specifically attracted to this venue in Auckland. The level of spending at Skycity is limitless and therefore issues of gender, age, group orientation, nationality and physical ability play a significant role in influencing the behaviors of the tourist (John, 2015). The games offered at the gender, age, group orientation, nationality and physical ability also offers momentous opportunities for interaction among the Asian tourists and the local population. People of above twenty years of age are the only ones permitted in the Skycity casino.

The Skycity has the busiest hotel that renders their services to family members, tourists, gamblers as well as business men most of them coming to play in the casino. Visitors can easily get accommodation in refurbished rooms that are readily available (Orsman, 2007).

Based on the observation, it show most of them are Asian tourists, with majority being attracted to the culture of Maori as well as the different lifestyles. Some of the lifestyle that are associated with visiting Skycity casino are not appealing. The Asian tourists are attracted to criminal activities that are probably motivated by the games in the Skycity as well as their interaction with young people. Skycity is a gambling venue that promotes high risk behaviors such as money laundering. The casino commonly handles huge sums of money every day and the numbers of transactions are also high inside the Skycity casino. This therefore heightens the risks associated with money laundering (John, 2015).

Majority of the customers at Skycity are Asians and most of the VIP are booked by the Asians who indicate that English is a second language. The Asian tourists turn out to be the biggest gamblers at the Skycity casino. Some of the Asian travellers observed at the Skycity form organized crime groups and they make frequent visits to the VIP room where they are engaged in gaing chips that entail changing of hands between the high profile rollers. Apart from money laundering, the Asian tourists also involve in drugs. They can maintain high echelons of anonymity based on the fact that, the size of transactions executed within Skycity casino is extremely high. The behavior of the Asian travelers in relation to their love gambling can be attributed to their culture (John, 2015).

The culture of the Asians has been linked with their love for gambling at Skycity casino. It is commonly believed that, Asians believe strongly in fate, fortune and luck and this is one of the most important motivator for engaging in gambling at Skycity casino. The deep rooted cultural factors are responsible for encouragement of gambling as well as discouraging any form of assistance when the habit is addictive as well as compulsive. This is also the reason why most of the Asian travellers form criminal groups when their anticipated fortune in gambling turns out to be a fate. It also explains why most of the Asian travellers observed in Skycity casino are involved in money laundering. The Asian travellers in Skycity casino in Auckland are addicted and pathological gamblers (Orsman, 2007). Based on the ethnicity of the Asians, the rate of addiction in gambling can be as high as 60 percent. Additionally, the perception of gambling among the Asians is that, it is a social activity and they comfortably use it to interact with other people. Gambling is associated with a social element among the Asians and there is no foreseeable problem that can be associated with gambling (Marshall, 2007).

Asians also place a high degree of emphasis of superstitious issues, the idea of luck as well as numerology. In this regard, losing in a game or winning the game  is associated with a potent sense of identification more that, what is being perceived as reflecting on the individual person (Marshall, 2007). The Asian culture also offers room for the promotion of themes that are allied to good fortune and superstitious. They also strongly believe that fate can only be associated with ancestral predetermination. For example, if a person is a serial winner in gambling, then that person has a lot of blessings from their gods (John, 2015).

Gambling among the Asian community plays a crucial role in the process of socialization. In this regard, the Skycity casino has an aggressive marketing campaign that targets the Asian travellers (Tse & Liew, 2004). They offer some Asian entertainments and food is of ethnic type that is attractive to the Asian travellers. Dealers in the gambling card must be conversant and fluent in the Asian languages. Majority of the visitors at Skycity casino are of Asian origin.

Gambling does not have a provision of language barrier. The Skycity casino offer high echelons of solidality to the Asian travellers and they are therefore encouraged to feel at home while at the Skycity casino. The casino aura that is offered at Skycity casino gives the Asian travellers the sense of community that they desire. Most of the Asian travellers at Skycity casino accumulate high debts in the gambling activities and this is the most probable motivator for their engagement in crime when they run dry of money (Marshall, 2007).

The Asian travellers were also identified with a culture of being fearless as well as great risk takers. This culture was particularly influential in making them more vulnerable to gambling. There are naturally gamblers which are a behavior that can further be attributed to their potent love for money (Chu, 2002). Even for the case of the Asian travellers who appear to be relatively poor, they are also attracted to gambling at Skycity casino. Gambling can be regarded as being socially acceptable in some situations but the loss of control is a big problem among majority of the Asian travellers in Auckland (Orsman, 2007). Gambling has exposed the Asian travellers to cultural shame as well as loss of integrity. It thus becomes difficult for the Asian travellers to interact with the locals as well as other members of their community who are not addicted to gambling. The loss of money in gambling is a great motivator of engagement in criminal activities among the Asian travellers in Skycity casino (Au, 2002).

In attempts of ameliorating their shame and avoidance of stigma due to loss of control in gambling, majority of the Asian travellers in Skycity casino change their perception from a moral issue to a mental health issue. This makes it even more difficult for them to interact with other people. This also motivates them to form criminal groups that have been observed at Skycity casino. Asian travelers love gambling can therefore be attributed to the features highlighted as regards their culture.

References

Au, P. (2002). Traditional Chinese culture. New Zealand Journal of Counselling, 23(1), 5-9.

Chu, S. (2002). Adaptation problems of Chinese immigra

John K., (2015). SkyCity will be an ‘eyesore’ without government money”. Stuff.co.nz. 10 February 2015.

Marshall, C., (2007). “Union ‘in the dark’ over SkyCity job losses”. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 November 2011.

Orsman, B., (2007). “Cards called for 230 at SkyCity in cost-cut drive”. The New Zealand Herald.

Tse, S., & Liew, T. (2004). New Zealand experiences: How is community resilience manifested in Asian communities? International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction, 2(1).