Flinders Ranges and Outback Integrated Strategic Tourism Plan

Final Plan
The Theme for this Plan is Journeys, Tracks and Trails
4.0 THE THEME FOR THIS PLAN IS JOURNEYS, TRACKS AND TRAILS
This theme recognises that the Flinders Ranges and Outback South Australia are key
places that Australian and international visitors wish to include as part of a longer
journey of exploration. They are also destinations for South Australians taking a longer
break or holiday.
It highlights the fact that for visitors there are no borders or boundaries to their journeys.
The Flinders Ranges and Outback SA tourism region is a construct developed to assist in
marketing and managing a specific geographic area. It is incumbent on those in the
region to ensure that this construct does not become a barrier to developing seamless
experiences for visitors.
Many of our visitors are on a journey to discover the heart of Australia. Outback South
Australia is directly linked by roads and iconic tracks to Queensland, New South Wales,
Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
It is critical that visitors are able to receive consistent and accurate advice and
information at any point on their journey and that their experience is not marked by
territorial disputes. It is the experiences not administrative boundaries that are relevant
to the traveller.
These disputes can also characterise discussions between and within regions in South
Australia. They make no sense. Our role in building tourism is to provide a range of
choices for visitors and to make sure they are aware of the kinds of experience each
choice offers. The more alternative routes, loops and links we provide the more likely it is
that one of these will appeal to a prospective visitor.
Map One shows the kinds of routes that self-drive and coach tours will take to travel to
and through the region.
The thick black lines reflect the primary routes – mainly on bitumen or the relatively
accessible tracks such as Oodnadatta, Birdsville and Strezlecki. The dotted lines show
alternative routes. For example travellers leaving Adelaide have a choice of Highway
One to Port Augusta or routes we could call B1 and B2 through Clare branching off
either to Gladstone, Wirrabarra, Melrose and Wilmington or to Jamestown, Orroroo and
then joining the main route from Broken Hill via Peterborough to Hawker via Carrieton or
Cradock or Port Augusta and areas further north via Wilmington. Each of these routes
offers travellers a very different experience enabling townships along the way to
showcase their attractions to encourage people to stop for a meal, to visit an attraction
and spend a night. These alternative routes need to be actively promoted by FROSAT,
regional tourism operators and Councils.
Beyond these roads and tracks are the trails people will take to get right off the highway
whether this be on bike, foot, horse or camel. The Heysen and Mawson Trails are the
best known of these, but many other areas have walking trails that provide access to
lookouts and points of interest including town and heritage walks. The extensive
Urban & Regional Planning Solutions
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