Tourism

**As one of the 7 Great Wonders of the World, The Great Barrier Reef is a very popular tourist location. The GBR attracts about 1.6 million tourists from Australia alone each year. Because the Reef is so popular, it helps to support the regions economy by bringing in around $1 billion every year. The record amount of profit earned by the Reef was $4.228 billion in 2003.** 

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﻿ **There are many different fun, and interactive activities to do throughout the GBR Marine Park. There’s snorkeling, scuba diving, hot air balloon rides, rentable boats, cruises, and beautiful sandy beaches. The most popular activity is definitely outer reef snorkeling. The staff at the GBR Marine Park make sure that your time snorkeling will be the best experience possible. There are many different options of how, when, and where you can snorkel. For example, full day trips are available where you are taken on a boat to different locations throughout the reef. Then, you can snorkel around there until its time to move on to the next part of the reef. Another way to experiance the reef is where you go to a beach and walk into the reef, when and where you choose, and to swim wherever you like - within some limits of course.** **There are multiple cruises that are available throughout the GBR Marine Park. The cruise that attracts the most tourist is the Coral Princess Expedition. This large ship can hold up to 250 people. It has luxurary cabins for the guests to sleep in, and the dinning rooms are like nothing you have ever seen. The Coral Princess is also one of the only cruise ships that has a room with a glass bottom, a narrator who explains the history of the reef, and tour guides who teach you how to snorkel.**   **My expert is a real life tourist who has snorkelled throughout many reefs including the Great Barrier Reef. His favorite thing to do while scuba diving is getting up close to large sea animals such as stingrays and sea turtles. His love of scuba diving first started when he and his family went to Isreal and tried out snorkelling. He fell in the love with the reefs and later went to Hawaii to become a certified scuba diver. This started his hobby and true passion for scuba diving. He later moved on and opened his own scuba diving equiptment store. These are pictures of him diving in the Great Barrier Reef.**   This is on a professional level, and not always available to tourists.   <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; font-style: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back **