Tourism Planning Taskforce Report - Western Australian Planning ...

SummarySummary• In September 2002, the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, the Hon Alannah MacTiernan MLAestablished a taskforce to examine issues surrounding the trends of introducing residentialcomponents to tourism developments on tourist zoned land and the strata titling of tourismdevelopments. This report outlines the findings and recommendations of the taskforce.• In establishing the taskforce, the Minister noted that policy development would require investigationof potential impacts generally, and on:- the maintenance of a high level of accessibility to prime recreation areas by the general population;- the high potential of tourism development to generate regional employment opportunities; and- the maintenance of a variety of tourist accommodation options throughout the State.• The taskforce was chaired by the Hon Adele Farina, MLC, Member for South-West Region andincluded members from government agencies and the tourism and development industries. Itsinvestigations were required to address the whole of the State.State tourist accommodation industry• The Western Australian tourism industry, while growing consistently, is relatively immature withinvestment limited by: a high proportion of domestic tourists, distances and cost of internal travel,infrastructure, high seasonality and a limited range of high-end facilities, particularly in regional areas.• Tourism in the State has a unique character, which provides a point of difference that will be importantto the future national and international competitiveness of the industry.• A strong component of the industry character in regional areas is a focus on the local market, withfacilities generally being highly accessible, affordable and providing an important domestic holidayfunction with social, cultural and lifestyle benefits.• The Australian trend toward coastal living will result in increasing residential pressure on existing andproposed coastal tourism sites. In response, this requires an increased focus on strategic tourismplanning if the economic, social and environmental benefits of sustainable tourism are to be achieved.• Western Australia had 6.9 million visitors in 2003 with about 11 domestic visitors for each internationalvisitor. The average spending of international visitors is significantly higher than for domestic visitors,making them more important to the economy of the State than their numbers indicate.• A sustainable tourism industry requires investors to be able to achieve reasonable operationalreturns, facilitating funding of marketing, maintenance and improvement of facilities. This is notachieved where development is real estate driven and not based on growth in tourism demand.• Western Australia has sites and locations, which have particular attributes and characteristics ofstrategic value for tourism. These sites have potential for the development of facilities that achievethe competitive edge, assisting long-term viability of the industry and the quality of life in the State.The tourism development framework• The issues subject to taskforce investigations are not addressed at a policy level within the Stateplanning framework, but are reflected in many local government planning schemes. A majority ofthese schemes provide a clear intention that tourist zoned sites are for short-stay accommodationonly.• Tourism Western Australia (previously the WATC) has established a clear position opposing the useof tourism sites for residential purposes:“The WATC supports prime land zoned for tourist accommodation being used for demonstratedtourism purposes. The WATC is seriously concerned about the encroachment of permanentresidential accommodation onto prime land set aside for tourist accommodation purposes.” (WATCBoard, 2002).Tourism Planning Taskforce Reportv