Cape York Peninsula and Torres Strait Tourism Action Plan

Summary

The Cape York Peninsula and Torres Strait Tourism Action Plan was a blueprint for tourism on Cape York and the Torres Strait. Previous experience in the study area (via our years of work on the Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy and natural resource management work in the Torres Strait region), together with local transport infrastructure knowledge), allowed us to develop the necessary authentic, values-based approach to categorising actual and potential tourism product.

Environment North was a member of a multidisciplinary study team lead by Kleinhardt FGI that was established by Tourism Queensland to work with the local industry and community to:

• Establish key tourism priorities in Cape York and the Torres Strait such as infrastructure development, training/capacity building for communities and tourism operators, product development opportunities, visitor management demands, and market development
• Provide a clearly defined and coordinated action plan for the development of a sustainable tourism industry in Cape York and the Torres Strait.

Our work involved two main tasks:

• undertaking a comprehensive literature review of the myriad of past studies into tourism in the area, focusing on past recommendations and issues, and
• developing a comprehensive database of tourism product and associated infrastructure.

Both outputs were documented in searchable databases that allowed future managers and researches to efficiently access the comprehensive work that had already been completed in the area.

Innovation/Distinguishing Features

The product and recommendations databases were developed using simple Excel functions, allowing general users of the software to quickly hone in on required information. No specialist query knowledge was required.