Tasmanian Greens urged to reconsider Tourism Policy

Tasmania’s tourism industry has urged the Tasmanian Greens’ to use this weekend’s party conference as an opportunity to consider a more pragmatic policy on the role of commercial tourism in Tasmania’s National Parks & Reserves.

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania CEO Luke Martin, said the Greens current policy to oppose any commercial development within Tasmania’s National Parks and Reserves was increasingly out of step with the views of the tourism industry, the Tasmanian public, and many in their own party.

“The Tasmanian Greens have a proud legacy over thirty years of championing the potential of tourism to generate sustainable economic outcomes for Tasmania,” Mr Martin said.

“Indeed it was Bob Brown who first spoke about the partnership between conservation and tourism in the context of the West Coast’s Wild Rivers, and he has been proven right over the past two decades through the success of Strahan and the commercial tour operators on the Gordon River.”

“The West Coast is now the fifth most tourism dependent regional economy in Australia.”

“This example can be replicated across other areas of the State if we allow entrepreneurs and tourism operators to develop new innovative ways for visitors to experience our natural areas and wild places, generating low-impact jobs and economic activity in our regional areas.”

“The last people who want to compromise the unique values of these areas are the very people willing to invest money to bring people to experience what’s special about these places.”

“Indeed we already have around 200 commercial tourism operators working every day in Tasmania’s National Parks & Reserves, generating opportunities for more people to experience and engage in Tasmania’s most special places.”

“The Greens policy of opposing any form of commercial development within Tasmania’s National Parks and Reserves flies in the face of logic and essentially means 52% of Tasmania’s land mass is out of reach from private investment.”

“The Greens stated policy of opposing “exclusivity” for commercial tourism operators in Tasmania’s National Parks is ambiguous at best, and effectively mean they oppose some of Tasmania and Australia’s most outstanding examples of sustainable nature tourism currently operating within our local industry.”

“We know there are some senior members of the conservation movement and the Greens Party who are uncomfortable with their current policy and this weekend’s Party Conference is a great opportunity to revisit the practicalities of this policy.”

“The Greens can and should lay claim to a shared vision for Tasmania to be one of the world’s truly great nature tourism destinations, but their policy needs to match the rhetoric.
Tourism Industry Council Tasmania CEO Luke Martin