Attraction Visit and Analysis for Eureka Skydeck - myassignmenthelp

Eureka Skydeck is one of the most popular tourist destinations of Melbourne. The Skydeck is located on the 88 th floor of the 91 storied Eureka Tower, providing the highest public view in the Southern Hemisphere at 935 ft (285 m) above the sea level (planetware.com 2018). In the heart of the Southbank of Melbourne, by the Yarra River, the attraction was built from 2002 to 2006. The tower is the tallest one in Melbourne and second tallest in Australia, after Q1 in Queensland. The tower was named after the Eureka Stockade, the rebellion at the time of 1854 Victorian gold rush and hence, the design has incorporated a gold crown at the top of the building representing the gold rush (Eureka Skydeck 2018). The Skydeck also features The Edge, a glass cube projecting outside the building providing a 360 degree view of the city. Eureka Skydeck has a complete website with all the relevant information about the observation deck. Right from the ‘About Us’ to ticket pricing, things to see, education, dining and many more, the website is filled with all sorts of information and pictures. Visitors can check out www.eurekaskydeck.com.au to get the detailed information before visiting this attraction. The website is user-friendly as it contains easy links to important information along with photos of the visitors. It also has multilingual options for visitors, not having proficiency in English only. It is located in the Riverside Quay in Southbank of Yarra River, which is easily accessible by public transport. All the public buses, trams and trains, crossing the Flinders Street Train Station and St. Kilda Road can be availed by the tourists to reach Eureka. Parking options are available at the Wilson Eureka Parking at the cost of AUD 13 for Monday to Friday, entry prior to 4pm, AUD 6 for Monday to Friday, entry after 4pm and AUD 11 for the weekends (Eureka Skydeck 2018). There are plenty of other parking spots at reasonable prices nearby where visitors can park their cars and bikes. The Skydeck has all the modern facilities such as, toilets, disabled ramp to the entrance, souvenir shop, with variety of gift products, free WiFi area (Yoo 2017), small cafes for sandwiches and hot drinks, small seating arrangements and a fine dining restaurant at 89 th floor. There are easy navigation signs that help the visitor through the attraction, from the entrance to the building up to the 88 th floor. There are maps of the path with ‘You are here’ sign at every point of stop for the visitors, however, the signboards are all written in English. Eureka Skydeck offers excellent opportunities for the schools to celebrate different educational events, such as, teacher’s day, education week, children’s day etc. and many more excursions. The schools are offered guided tours at no additional cost if they book during the offers, free entry to the teachers upon showing the VIT card during teacher’s day promotions. The visitor information can be found in the website (Eureka Skydeck 2018). Guides are available for the guided tours only. People mostly prefer to go on a self guided tour and spend time as their own. In case of education excursions and tourists, with difficulty in English, can opt for guided tours. The tourists can avail the audio aid with headphones for audio tour. There brochures and guide books about the Skydeck are available at the entrance of the tower, ticket counters and at the 88 th floor. However, apart from the ‘Serendipity’ touchtable, there are no touch screens for interactions throughout the path to the deck (Eureka Skydeck 2018). The visitors have the option to pick a headphone and walkman to get an audio visual experience of the tour. The AV experience depicts the view points at every angle along with the audio of the history of the construction of the tower and contemporary Melbourne life, some fun facts and trivia (lookear.net.au 2018). Through the interactive AV structure and scripts are also present in the 6 meter long ‘Serendipity’ touchtable presenting less well known facts of the city. Eureka Skydeck offers a 360 degree breathtaking view of the Melbourne city, especially, the Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne’s CBD and Dandenong Ranges through thirty view finders on the observation deck in 88 th floor of the Eureka Tower. It is open daily from 10 in the morning to 10 in the night. Sunset and the evening are the most favored time of the visitors (tripadvisor.in 2018). Apart from the deck, the Edge is also another favorite of the tourists. Eureka has introduced another visitor experience, Eureka Vertigo, where it presents to the visitors an illusion of loosing balance and falling from the 88 th floor at the extra cost of AUD 15. The elevator takes only 38 seconds to reach the deck (tripadvisor.in 2018). The open-air terrace gives a feel of the strong wind and people get the sensation of hanging midair in the Edge. Although it is a ticketed attraction, people prefer to visit the Skydeck to get an extraordinary experience of the magnificent view of the city. As stated by Swarbrooke & Horner (2004), tourists are motivated to visit a place due to the push and pull factors and personality of the tourists is a determining factor for motivation, perceptions and the tourist behavior. Skydeck is preferred by the tourists who are motivated by the features of the Eureka Skydeck and the uniqueness of the experience that it gives. According to the travel-motivation theory by Gray (1979), the consumers choose the travel destination based on the two motives, one is to travel from a known place to unknown place, known as the ‘Wanderlust’ and the other is to travel with a specific purpose to avail some facilities not available at the residential place, known as ‘Sunlust’. These are the mostly the recreational, pleasure, cultural experience, shopping and new experiences (Chen and Chen 2015). In case of the Eureka Skydeck, people come here to have new experience, following the ‘sunlust’ motivation. It can be said that, people love to visit the Eureka Skydeck in the Southbank of Melbourne to get the best view of the city from the tallest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere. At a minimum cost, the tourists want to get a unique experience, which reflects the motivation of sunlust as well as due to the push and pull factors of the Skydeck. Eureka Skydeck is a must see attraction of Melbourne that provides all the modern facilities to the tourists apart from the marvelous view of the city. From gifts to dining experience, Eureka Vertigo and the Edge are the additional factors that drive the tourists to the Skydeck and make an incredible memory for the lifetime. Chen, L.J. and Chen, W.P., 2015. Push–pull factors in international birders' travel.  Tourism Management,  48, pp.416-425. Eureka Skydeck, 2018.  Eureka Skydeck. [online] Eureka Skydeck. Available at: https://www.eurekaskydeck.com.au/ [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018]. lookear.net.au, 2018.  Eureka Skydeck. [online] LookEar. Available at: https://www.lookear.net.au/eureka-skydeck.html [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018]. planetware.com, 2018.  17 Top-Rated Tourist Attractions in Melbourne | PlanetWare. [online] Planetware.com. Available at: https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/melbourne-aus-vic-m.htm [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018]. Schroeder, A. and Pennington-Gray, L., 2015. The role of social media in international tourist’s decision making.  Journal of Travel Research,  54(5), pp.584-595. Swarbrooke, J. and Horner, S., 2007. Consumer behavior in tourism . Jordan Hill. tripadvisor.in, 2018.  Eureka Skydeck 88 (Melbourne) - What to Know Before You Go (with Photos) - TripAdvisor. [online] Tripadvisor.in. Available at: https://www.tripadvisor.in/Attraction_Review-g255100-d654640-Reviews-Eureka_Skydeck_88-Melbourne_Victoria.html [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018]. Yoo, T., 2017.  Melbourne's Eureka Tower now has superfast 200Mbps broadband to rival the NBN. [online] Business Insider Australia. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/melbournes-eureka-tower-now-has-superfast-broadband-at-double-the-nbns-speed-2017-2 [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018].