Environmental care key to tourism future

An international eco-tourism conference at Noosa, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast will push the message this week that care for the environment is the key to the industry's future prosperity or ruin. The conference will cover topics ranging from responsible tourism development in Cambodia to running eco lodges in protected areas and improving the outlook for the Great Barrier Reef.

The keynote address at the conference, Disneyland? Done That! will be delivered by British botanist and ecologist Dr David Bellamy. Advertisement: Story continues below Dr Bellamy says from the moment the first hotel gave their clients the choice of using their towels for a couple of days, they've never looked back or stopped coming up with new ecological ideas.

"From hunting and fishing, through backpacking, camping and caravanning, package holidays, home stays, bed and breakfast, SCUBA diving, hotels of every shape, size and location, to the grand tour by car, train, boat or cruise ship the message is now getting through that care for the environment is the only safe foundation to success," he said.

Other international speakers include the director of Greenearth Travel in Brussels, Professor Geoffrey H Lipman, who has written and lectured around the world on tourism strategy, sustainability and airline liberalisation, and Bruce Poon Tip who founded Gap Adventures with two credit cards and "a desire to create an authentic, sustainable travel experience like no other".

Indigenous tourism, which conference convenor Tony Charters describes as a salve for the soul of people living in jam-packed cities, will be a key agenda item with a one-day workshop dedicated to fostering indigenous tourism.

Mr Charters said indigenous tourism is an opportunity Australia is missing out on.

"Many international visitors are going home disappointed at not having had an authentic experience with Aboriginal culture," he said. "People visiting Australia want to see our landscape through the lens of indigenous Australians - they want to hear the stories and understand the environment as interpreted by the original inhabitants of this continent."

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