Crystal Castle In New South Wales

1. Understand factors influencing consumer behaviour in tourism and hospitality settings

2. Identify two key consumer decision models ? Identify key models related to tourist motivation

Discover the Beauty of Crystal Castle

Crystal castle in New South Wales is a magical place of stunning rainforest and gardens, fresh food sacred, unique jewelry and sacred statues (Andersen and Oakley, 2009). The Crystal Castle offers a place to enrich the spirits of people as well as find a place where they can find some peace of the world by being touched by the beauty of nature. It operates from 10 am to5 pm every day of the year apart from Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Good Friday holidays (Elder and Moore, 2012). It is located on 81 Monet Drive, Montecollum NSW 2482 street and its URL address is https://www.crystalcastle.com.au/. The purpose of this portfolio is to familiarize students with the Crystal Castle in Australia and enhance their appreciation. The portfolio further seeks to foster an understanding of the significance of first people’s culture and contexts in Australia. 

The Crystal Castle is located near Mullumbimby, the largest little town in Australia. Mullumbimby town is approximately 20 minutes’ drive north from Byron Bay. It takes 9.42 miles to travel from Byron Bay to Mullumbimby. Cape Byron is Australia's most easterly point, 153° 39' east, situated on the north coast of New South Wales (Christian, 2011).   

The crystal castle is nested in Byron Bay’s hinterland that lies in a magical and tranquil sanctuary. It is a home of the biggest and natural crystals in the world. With its various shorelines, untainted hinterland, and slow way of life, Byron Bay is a prominent visitor destination.  

Over the last 200 hundred years, the scene of the hinterland has changed drastically. The area was once covered with giant rainforest trees but today the reminders of the 'Huge Scrub' is found in the Nightcap National Park and on cultivating properties (Derrett, 2013). There are also re-development timberlands, for example, Nobles Scrub Reserve at Eureka that has been reestablished with an end goal to make the first woodland covering and give a safe house to rainforest creatures (Elder and  Moore, 2012). The crystals have a peaceful ambience and exclusive natural splendor. The area is also surrounded with lush rainforest and botanical gardens showing some of the world sacred statues and the world stupa. It is also immersed in the magic of the enchanted cave, so far the biggest amethyst cave in the world.

Sub-tropical crops flourished in the gentle climate and by 1911 banana manors were famous. The bananas can be seen developing on the steepest upper east slopes while in transit to Mullumbimby.

A Place of Stunning Rainforest and Gardens

Mullumbimby was a different district from 1908 until the point that in 1980 when it was compelled to unite and form Byron Shire. In the 1990s, the Byron Shire Council workplaces were moved to Mullumbimby (Gibson, 2012). The broad Byron Shire turned into a focal point of the option or the other culture nearby the surviving standard culture in the 1980s, and still remains up to date. The blended male choir Dustyesky performs Russian-dialect people melodies and got the real scope on the Russian TV supporter Channel One (Orams, 2010). The most striking examples of the important timber trees being gathered (most outstandingly red cedar,  Silky Oak, Australian Teak, Rosewood, and Black and Red Bean), the Big Scrub timber exchange fallen and Mullumbimby turned out to be principally a cultivating network.

In the same way as other regions of the Big Scrub, distributions were given in Mullumbimby and the encompassing zones by the government of NSW relying on the prerequisite that the proprietor cleared the land for agricultural use. Beef as well as dairy, alongside bananas and sugar stick have generally been the imminent results of the region (Gibson and Connell, 2003). In any case, the subdivision of huge numbers of the bigger homesteads and the rise of various little scale ranchers has prompted a higher assorted variety of items. A week after week ranchers' market has been created to display neighborhood deliveries.

The crystal castle has evolved and is constantly changing over time. In 1986, Naren King built an exclusive unique building on 25 hectares near Mullumbimby. After construction, a crystal business was launched and locals jokingly named it the raising horses and chickens. The King started to replant the decimated l land which had been previously cleared for banana growing and grazing.  It was the first importer of quality natural crystals in Australia. The locals were interested on what was going on and kept dropping in search of the crystal. The demand to utilize the castle has increased since then. Most visitors to Byron were sent up by the visitors centre to try and get in the Crystal Castle. Eventually the castle became popular and was opened for limited trading to the public. Over several years, the vision of creating an area of beauty and energy, magic and wonder has been realized (Goodrich, 2014). On the other hand, the dairy business changed the land, individuals settled and towns were shaped. Pig development was an approach to utilize the surplus skim drain and soon the pig business was flourishing. There is still pig ranches arranged on the fields of Myocum (Orams, 2010).

The Rich First People's Culture and Contexts

. One of the predominant products is macadamias. The long lines of tall trees with dark foliage take up to 12 years to develop and deliver Australia's indigenous nut. The latest rural move has been the upsurge of coffee producers. Coffee plants lines offer the cafes with a special local brew for their cappuccino (Gibson and Connell, 2003). The Butler Model looks at the way tourists resort grow and develop. The tourist industry is dynamic and it is constantly changing. The Model breaks down the tourist resort development into five stages which include the discovery stage, growth as well as development stage, success stage, problem (stagnation stage) and finally the rejuvenation stage (Butler, 2006). Currently, the Crystal Castle is at the success stage and many tourists are flocking there to explore and see the beauty and magical crystals.

Apart from the several services offered by a visit in the Crystal Castle such as walks in the magnificent natural surroundings, works and experiences, enchanted Cave and the Crystal Guardian, the Mullumbimby towns also offer external services that attract tourists. According to the Getz model of tourism hospitality and precincts functions, the CBD services such as (retail shopping, government offices, public spaces and parks, entertainment) and essential services such as transport and parking, water and waste, security and many more are the core tourist attractions (Getz, 2008). The Lotus café is one of the local places that is a center of attraction. The café provides a breathtaking view of the Byron hinterland as people enjoy the organic coffee and tea, nutritious snacks and the vegetarian meals. Cape Byron Lighthouse is also one of the local attraction centers (Goodrich, 2014). It is located 1.3 km from Byron Bay and provides a stunning view of the coast. It is also a world recognized whale-watching site (Derrett, 2013). 

The Crystal castle can be externally accessed through direct international flights from Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Europe and USA.The Crystal Castle can be internally accessed by air, self-driving and bus. There are three airports services that offer transport into Byron Bay such as Ballina Byron Gateway Airport, Brisbane Airport and Gold Coast Airport. The Gold coast airport is located in Coolangatta and takes 45 minutes to arrive at Byron Bay while Ballina Byron Gateway Airport is 30 minutes south of Byron Bay and Brisbane Airport is 1 hour 50 minutes from Byron Bay.

Another way to access Crystal Castle is by use of the road. Driving along the east coast of Australia provides an opportunity to test the real life of Australia. Travelling by road provide a good chance of viewing the numerous amazing beaches that stretch along the east coast from surf beaches to good looking secluded bays. When travelling from Sydney, it will take about eight and a half hours to Byron Bay (McElroy, 2009). There are numerous buses that run from Brisbane to Byron Bay. Greyhound, as well as Premier Coaches, offers services on the Sydney Byron route.  

Peace in the Gardens and Rainforest

Another way to access Crystal Castle is by use of the road. Driving along the east coast of Australia provides an opportunity to test the real life of Australia. Travelling by road provide a good chance of viewing the numerous amazing beaches that stretch along the east coast from surf beaches to good looking secluded bays. When travelling from Sydney, it will take about eight and a half hours to Byron Bay (McElroy, 2009). There are numerous buses that run from Brisbane to Byron Bay. Greyhound, as well as Premier Coaches, offers services on the Sydney Byron route.  

There are several services that are offered in the Crystal Castle. The Bitner’s model emphasize on the physical environment impact in which service process occur. The model explain people’s behavior in the service environment with a view to design an environment that achieve organizational goals in terms accomplishing the needed the behavioral responses.  In this case, the servicescape include facility’s exterior and interior and the ambient condition (Bitner, Zeithaml, and Gremler, 2010). Firstly, the castle allows the view of a pair of the tallest geodes in the world which are displayed in Shambhala gardens (Rasmussen, Pejtersen, and Goodstein, 2004). The Crystal Guardians are smoky quartz geodes with fragile amethyst springs and calcite crystal flowers that pose as sentinels watching over the property. 

The Crystal Castle has Kalachakra Stupa, a rare sacred monument made to guard against negative energies. It is famously regarded as the World Peace Stupa and the main purpose of this feature is to restore the balance to the earth in times of environmental destruction, conflict and war (Christian, 2011).  The sight of the stupa gives people innate goodness, kindness, compassion and good karma. The Buddha Walk is an exclusive half a kilometer walk that provides a unique view of Byron hinterland. On the walk, giant crystals, enormous statues, a bamboo walk are discovered which provide a space for meditation and contemplation. The Damanhur Spiral is connected to the stone spirals and labyrinths in the sacred Woods Temple of the Damanhur Federations communities in Italy. The spirals are linked to inspiring Temple of Humankind that is dug under the mountain at Damanhur (McElroy, 2009).

Additionally, a labyrinth is another feature in the Crystal Castle. It is a walk of meditative enquiry and spiritual reflection. It is a place where people enter into sacred time and space to seek insight and inspiration. Walking through the twisted path permits an individual to relax his or her mind, sheds thoughts and distractions (Goodrich, 2014). The Kalachakra, the Labyrinth and the Buddha walk are among the features that provide a sense of place in the Crystal Castle.

Location and Access

The Crystal Castle is branded as a home of the biggest and most beautiful natural crystals in the world.  The Crystal Castle has a peaceful ambience and natural splendor. Inspiration, tranquility and breathtaking beauty await people to enrich the spirit as well as discover Byron jewel (Rasmussen, Pejtersen,and Goodstein, 2004). The brand of the Crystal Castle is strategic because it adds value to the services offered by developing unique identification of the marketplace.

The Crystal Castle allows different people from different religion, gender and race from all parts of the world. It is known as a rainbow region and it is one among the area that is considered the spiritual home of the hippy movement of Australia. It is also the center of attraction for all types of artist. They are attracted because of the outstanding natural beauty and the previous lifestyle. The Stupa and Buddha are one of the features that offer a place for spiritual enrichment (Andersen and Oakley, 2009). It is perceived to guard the world against negative energies. Visitors also offer coin offerings on the Buddha and this offering is sent to Tibetan Kindergarten to preserve the culture of Tibetans. People of different gender and races converge at the Crystal Castle for entertainment purposes (Gibson and Connell, 2003). There is a range of entertainment options that are around the Crystal Castle such as the annual Byron Bay Surf Festival and Byron Bay’s traditional media.

The ideal design principles for urban precincts and places include equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort and size and space for approach and use (Rasmussen et al, 2004). Concerning simplicity and intuitiveness, the Crystal Castle is easily understandable. Every individual who visits the castle can easily understand the purpose of each design feature and how to use it. The Crystal Castle is flexible in its usage. The building permits people to utilize its features in more than one prescribed way (Christian, 2011). The design of the building should have the built-in flexibility to be easily used when it is applied in both unconventional and unanticipated manner. The crystal castle building design has low physical effort design features that need less physical force to use them. This allows every user to engage the feature without assuming the awkward body position.

Community engagement protocol is a step to step guide to undertake engagement initiative in the community. It also provides advice and support. The recommended protocol includes scope, coordination and feedback. Scoping provide a clear reason for beginning a community engagement initiative, the level of engagement, the timing of community engagement initiatives and community willingness to contribute to making the community engagement initiatives (Rasmussen, Pejtersen and Goodstein, 2004). Expectations of the community engagement community protocol should be developed. The expectations are developed to ensure effective and efficient community engagement. Coordination in community engagement protocol also helps to inform a collaborative approach that can be used in planning and reduce the number of times individual are for the same information. A high level of coordinated consultation is required to avoid overlapping consultation on similar questions about policies and services.

The community engagements protocols are important in embracing the community diversity in many ways. To begin with, they help local services to effectively meet neighborhood and varied community needs. They also assist individuals to express their perspectives as well as contribute to action in their community network and services it gets.  

References

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Bitner, M. J., Zeithaml, V. A., & Gremler, D. D. (2010). Technology’s impact on the gaps model of service quality. In Handbook of service science (pp. 197-218). Springer, Boston, MA.

Butler, R. (Ed.). (2006). The tourism area life cycle (Vol. 1). Channel view publications.

Christian, R. (2011). Developing an online access strategy: Issues facing small to medium-sized tourism and hospitality enterprises. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 7(2), 170-178.

Derrett, R. (2013). Making sense of how festivals demonstrate a community's sense of place. Event Management, 8(1), 49-58.

Elder, C., & Moore, K. (Eds.). (2012). New Voices, New Visions: Challenging Australian Identities and Legacies. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Getz, D. (2008). Event tourism: Definition, evolution, and research. Tourism management, 29(3), 403-428.

Gibson, C., & Connell, J. (2003). ‘Bongo Fury’: tourism, music and cultural economy at Byron Bay, Australia. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 94(2), 164-187.

Gibson, C. (2012). Rural transformation and cultural industries: popular music on the New South Wales Far North Coast. Australian Geographical Studies, 40(3), 337-356.

Goodrich, E. (2014). Spiritual Heritage: Understanding and Embodying Female Spirituality Through Creative Practice. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane.

Orams, M. B. (2010). Tourists getting close to whales, is it what whale-watching is all about?. Tourism Management, 21(6), 561-569.

McElroy, C. T. (2009). VI The Clarence-Moreton Basin in New South Wales. Journal of the Geological Society of Australia, 16(1), 457-479.

Rasmussen, J., Pejtersen, A. M., & Goodstein, L. P. (2004). Cognitive systems engineering. CRC press