Internal and external linkages and flows
Internal and external linkages and flows of people, good services and ideas
Linkages are the interactions and relationships between tasks, functions, departments and organisations. These interactions allow and promote the flow of information and ideas in achieving the objectives of the tourism business.
Source: http://hscgeographyeconomicactivity.hsieteachers.com/linkages.html
People, goods, service and ideas are linked as part of the daily operations of the enterprise. Within these linkages, flows of information and ideas may also occur. Consider the following examples in each category at three scales, local, national and global, and think how they might be linked, or how information and ideas might flow from one to the other. An example is provided below.
Local
People - local- corporate eg Taronga Teachers' Association members / intra state visitors, staff, contractors, suppliers
Goods - local human food & beverage, animals' food and water, cleaning supplies, administrative supplies eg paper, local souvenirs , eg Aboriginal artwork etc, local animals
Services - zoo maps, motorised carts, bicycle hire, food and beverage outlets (eg Waterhole), tours, accomodation, conferencing facilities, internet services, keeper talks etc
Ideas - booking systems, attractions and events to keep the zoo fresh and interesting, birthday discounts, new education programs etc
National
People - interstate visitors
Goods - Other stock sold eg food supplies, wine, souvenirs etc sourced nationally, zoo animal exchanges
Services – animal hospital, national animal research, national zoo animal breeding programs, accommodation, conferencing facilities, interstate tourism, accommodation online ticketing and booking systems
Ideas - Covid Safe requirements, national award wage requirements, occupational health and safety requirements (like fire training), Australian Hotel Association (AHA) star ratings program designed to ensure consistent quality across all accommodation providers.
Global
People - International visitors
Goods - international animal exchanges
Services - international animal breeding programs
Ideas - Covid-19 quarantine restrictions, visa restrictions, Australian work and holiday Visa program
An example of a linkage and flow associated with an operational procedure – Feeding the Elephants
In order to ensure the Elephant herd housed at TWPZ Dubbo is fed the best quality diet, the Animal Food Preparation Supervisor works closely with veterinarians, zoo nutritionist and elephant keepers when selecting the produce they will be fed.
The core constitute of the elephants diet is hay (broken down into three types: Lucerne, Meadow and Oatan hay). A comprehensive quality assurance process is undertaken before the hay is fed to the elephants. Firstly the Animal Food Preparation Supervisor travels to various locations to inspect and test the hay for nutritional value (core samples are taken and sent away to laboratories for this process). This testing and procurement process is done 12 months in advance to ensure a 12 month supply of hay has been secured for the elephants. Organisation of transport via truck then occurs. Quality Assurance is achieved through an inspection process on the farm, inspection by the Animal Food Preparation Supervisor at the Zoo, and then by the Elephant Zoo Keepers who inspect each pad of hay as it is fed out. The hay is stored in large hay sheds onsite.
The rest of the elephant diet is supplemented with various quantities of browse, horse pellets, wheat germ, cilium husks, additional vitamin supplements, fruit and vegetables. The quantity and frequency of these orders for supplementary diet items depend on a variety of factors to do with the animals themselves such as age (i.e younger elephants may eat less that older elephants), season, arrival or transport of individual animals into or out of the zoo and availability of product. Adjustments to diets occur through consultation between the TWPZ Dubbo Vets, the Elephant Supervisor and the Animal Food Preparation Supervisor.
Supplementary browse is cut for the elephants from the TWPZ Dubbo plantation next to the zoo, however the quantity of this resource and people available to cut this browse is limited. Due to the variability in availability of local browse, 1.5 tonnes of pineapple plants are sourced from regional Queensland every month. These pineapple plants are transported to Brisbane markets (stored over night) and refrigerated transport is organised to transport the plants to Dubbo.
Horse pellets and wheat germ (which add nutritional value to the core constituents of the elephants' diet) are made and sourced locally from a stock feed manufacturer. Supplies of these items are setup 12 months in advance and quality assured by the keepers as they are used. Cilium Husks (for fibre and gut health) are ordered once every 4-5 months from a health food wholesaler in Sydney who sources them from India. Additionally the vet team supplies the elephant team with vitamin supplements for the elephants once every six months.
Elephants consume half a tonne of carrots and 200 kilograms of apples per week. When seasonally available apples are sourced from Orange (close to Dubbo) and carrots from Wellington (also close to Dubbo). In relatively smaller quantities the elephants also consume sweet potato, corn cobs and bananas. Bananas are sourced from North Queensland and come to the zoo via the Brisbane markets. The rest of the fruit and vegetables are sourced from various wholesalers and delivered weekly. Upon arrival the fruit and vegetables are quality assessed as they are packed away in the specalised refrigerated unit by the animal food prep team.