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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
For many years Tourism has been seen as the environmentally benign alternative
to a range of destructive practises in special areas of the world. The
same was true of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area which arose
from disputes over oil drilling in the seventies. It was argued that,
if we protect this area and market it well, then people will come from
all around the world to visit this unique environment.
And come they did! The industry has increased from about 150,000 visitor
days in the early 1980's to around 1.5 million visitor-days in 1994/95.
It is currently the main commercial use in the region and is estimated
to generate over $1 billion annually. As visitor numbers increased, there
was a corresponding growth in the numbers of operations, diversity of
services offered and use of new technologies and facilities.
Management strategies that relied on remoteness to protect wilderness
qualities in some areas of the park in 1985 are no longer so appropriate.
In 1985 boats were capable of travelling at 10 knots and could reach 20
nautical miles in 2 hours, in 1990 they could travel to 50 nautical miles
at 25 knots; in 1995 they can travel to 70 nautical miles at 35 knots
and it is projected that in 2001 they will be able to travel to 100 nautical
miles at 50 knots. What this means is that the extent of the World Heritage
Area that has become accessible over this period to the day trip tourist
industry has increased from 4% to a projected 81%.
Fortunately the time of growth corresponded with a growth in community
interest in the natural environment. Operators see the value in providing
clients with good interpretation and education as a means of increasing
customer satisfaction and thereby increasing their operation's competitiveness.
Conversely research indicates that inappropriate staff behaviour has a
strong negative response by clients.
The Tourism Training course and associated materials was developed by
the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority with the tourism industry,
to provide tourism staff with skills and information to enable them to
better present the natural heritage of the Great Barrier Reef. The objective
was to improve the visitor experience, present the World Heritage Area;
and, to promote an understanding of "best environmental practice" among
visitors and staff. For a program to be effective, independent evaluation
is essential to ensure the relevance and practicality of programs developed.
The work carried out by the James Cook University Tourism Department,
with funding through the CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd, and industry feedback
has been invaluable in helping to provide effective support. This document
forms an important part of this work.
THIS PUBLICATION IS CITED AS:
Edward Kim, Gianna Moscardo, Barbara Woods & Philip Pearce (1997)
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park training package: A participant
evaluation.
Technical Report No. 20
Townsville; CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd, 20 pp.
ISBN 1 876054 69 7
A full copy of this report may be obtained from the author(s), and through the following libraries:
Agency libraries: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville; Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville; James Cook University, Townsville; Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (Brisbane and regional offices); Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage (Brisbane and regional offices); CSIRO Division of Marine Research, Tasmania.
Public libraries: Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia State libraries; National Library, ACT.
Parliamentary libraries: Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia parliamentary libraries.
For a hard copy (or pdf file) of the report contact CRC Reef on info@crcreef.com.
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