Whitsunday and Mackay Islands Visitor Management Strategy ...

If commercial operators fully used their permitted
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Develop a QPWS Tourism Contingency Policy in
capacities, visitor use at these sites would not be
consultation with the tourism industry and GBRMPA.
environmentally or socially sustainable. For example,
This policy will:
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the current permit system allocates commercial tour
operators almost 1,000,000 visitor days per year at both
South Whitehaven Beach and Tongue Point. A current
estimate of use at these sites is 160,000 and 90,000
visitor days per year respectively.
offering tangible benefits to high standard commercial
tour operators who operate on national park islands and
beaches. Benefits are provided where tourism practices
help protect and present national parks and marine
parks and where operators work in partnership to help
manage the natural environment.
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be developed in recognition of the financial
hardship a tourism operator may suffer if a visitor
site temporarily becomes severely degraded due to
an environmental incident
encourage tour operators to work within their
current permit arrangements if possible
permit commercial tour operators with a current
QPWS commercial activity permit or agreement to
temporarily relocate their activity to another visitor
site with a similar setting
allow for an operator to erect facilities in the
Natural disasters and incidents such as cyclones and
alternative visitor site to accommodate the
bushfires may degrade a site’s quality to the extent that it
temporary change of use
temporarily does not meet visitor expectations. Temporary
relocation of the tourism activity may be necessary to avoid
undue financial hardship for the operator.
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favour relocating a tourism activity to another
existing visitor site, rather than opening up
a new one
QPWS is developing a Great Walk involving sailing and
boating between several Whitsunday islands, with a series
of short walks to viewing spots from mooring points and
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not consider relocation to sites where significant
natural or cultural values may be impacted by use.
Work with the tourism industry to maximise the
camping areas on the islands. This initiative could provide
commercial opportunities the Whitsunday Islands Great
significant service and marketing opportunities for
Walk could provide.
Whitsunday tourism operators.
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This Strategy makes recommendations that affect
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Whitsunday and Mackay Islands Visitor Management Strategy
Desired outcomes
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Working together, QPWS, GBRMPA, the tourism
industry, Traditional Owners and community
representatives provide sustainable long-term
opportunities for tour operators to access visitor sites.
In the event that TIPA is implemented in the planning
area, the framework provided in this Strategy is adopted.
As a result, commercial tour operators have greater
business certainty and an improved investment
environment.
A strategic program guides public and private
investment in developing and maintaining facilities.
Policies, guidelines and actions
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Actively participate in existing tourism industry forums
and closely monitor the effectiveness of QPWS/tourism
industry engagement.
Establish a Whitsunday Parks Tourism Forum to help
develop and maintain open dialogue and relationships
between the Whitsundays tourism industry, tourism
organisations, GBRMPA and QPWS.
tourism operator permissions and agreements. In
implementing new conditions for commercial use of
marine and national parks, QPWS will:
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implement new policies and guidelines as part of
permit or agreement renewal processes in
consultation with tour operators
continue to work with GBRMPA to simplify the
current dual permit system for tour operators using
both the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and
Queensland’s national parks; policies will be
adjusted if simpler ways of managing tourism to
marine and national parks are identified
amend policies and guidelines in this Strategy that
are affected by other higher order initiatives such as
the TIPA policy.
With tour operators, QPWS will investigate private
investment to develop facilities at Black Island
Beach and Tongue Point (all-tide access) and
Refuge Bay on Scawfell Island. Facilities must be
open for public access.
Opportunity
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Investigate private investment to develop facilities at
Black Island Beach and Tongue Point (all-tide access)
and Refuge Bay on Scawfell Island. If these facilities
proceed, exclusive operator use will not be permitted.
All facilities will be required to be open for public access.