Australian Ecotourism Pioneer Wins Tourism for Tomorrow Conservation Award

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After receiving the award in Dubai, Ecotourism Australia’s Chief Executive Stephen Pahl said the award was a wonderful recognition of the pioneering work done in Australia by Ecotourism Australia and its members who are committed to a vision of sustainable tourism and a Green travel industry.

“As the world wakes up to climate change, I am delighted to receive this award on behalf of everyone in the Australian ecotourism industry who has worked so hard over the last 17 years to conserve our natural heritage for the enjoyment of today’s visitors and tomorrow’s generations.

“Ecotourism Australia’s Chairman, Mr Alastair McCracken, said the comprehensive ECO Certification program was a world first when it was introduced in 1995 and the Australian ecotourism industry can be proud of the way it embraced this initiative with its many stringently audited criteria to ensure environmental, economic and cultural sustainability.”

“This program is now an inspiration worldwide as governments and tourism operators seek to measure and manage the environmental impact of human activity,” Mr McCracken said.

Continuing to show the foresight that helped it win the Tourism for Tomorrow Award, Ecotourism Australia is nearing completion of an innovative Climate Change module for its certification program. This will also be available as a stand-alone module for the broader Australian tourism industry.

Mr McCracken said that while most ecotourism operators have been passionate forerunners, inspired by the area where they live and work, it is now time to hand the baton to the mainstream tourism industry and ask that everyone assesses the impact of their operations on the natural environment, the climate and local culture.

“The tourism industry will be a big loser from climate change and mainstream tourism operators must play their part in the solution,” Mr McCracken said.

“The winners will be the future visitors to Australia if we can continue to give them a rich and authentic experience of Australia’s magnificent natural heritage.”

Formed in 1991 as a not-for-profit organisation, Ecotourism Australia’s primary membership is private sector tourism businesses. For nearly two decades, it has helped to build a broad-based conservation through tourism approach throughout Australia.

With educational outreach, workshops, conferences and public-private partnerships, Ecotourism Australia has helped to make conservation an important part of Australia’s national tourism development efforts, resulting in Travel & Tourism businesses building nature conservation planning and outcomes into their business models.

Its ground-breaking ECO Certification Programme is among the world’s most innovative and successful certification schemes, with a ‘triple bottom line’ approach for the ecotourism industry, assuring that they are engaged in best practices in ecological sustainability, natural area management and the provision of high quality ecotourism experiences.

Ecotourism Australia is currently developing a Climate Change module to help facilitate a positive change in tourism practices in response to global warming. In April 2008, they announced Australia’s first fully carbon neutral ecolodge among their members, opening the window for others in the tourism community to see how it can be done.

The agency also runs the EcoGuide Australia Certification Programme, an industry driven certification program for nature and ecotour guides. It provides an industry credential that rewards guides that achieve and maintain specified competencies and standards. EcoGuide now also includes the new national Guides of Australia accreditation at no extra cost.

The definition of ecotourism adopted by Ecotourism Australia is:

“Ecotourism is ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas that fosters environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation”.

www.ecotourism.org.au

Valere Tjolle

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