Supporting Sustainable Tourism in Marine Reserves Welcome & - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Supporting Sustainable Tourism in Marine Reserves

Welcome & Housekeeping

Introduce yourself

Workshop Objectives Tap into your knowledge, experience and creativity to generate ideas that will inform Parks marine tourism work program o Improvement to Australia’s visitor economy o High-quality experiences that are engaging and raise awareness of the natural and cultural values of CMRs

Maximising the Tourism Benefit of Commonwealth Marine Reserves

Parks Australia

Park Australia Goals and Objectives Outstanding natural places that enhance Vision Australia’s well -being Resilient places and Multiple benefits to Amazing Goals ecosystems traditional owners destinations Objectives To protect and conserve the natural To support the aspirations of To offer world class natural and and cultural values of traditional owners in managing their cultural experiences, enhancing Commonwealth reserves. land and sea country. Australia’s visitor economy.

Marine Parks in Commonwealth Waters

What can you do in a marine park? • Managed through management plans • Multiple use reserves that allow for conservation and sustainable use • Zoning (IUCN Ia, II, IV, VI) provides for different levels of protection and use.

Current status of the Commonwealth Marine Reserves • 58 reserves managed by the Director of National Parks • South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network is under active management • The reserves outside the South-east are currently managed under transitional arrangements. • The Australian Antarctic Division manages the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve; the Great Barrier Reef is managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

Management Planning Second quarter Sept – Oct 2016 2017 First statutory public Plans finalised and comment period – Notice of tabled in Intent (NOI) Parliament First quarter 2017 Mid-2017 Second statutory Management public comment plans come into period – on draft effect management plans

2016 Budget • $ 56.1 million over four years (to 2019 – 20) to support management of Commonwealth marine reserves, including; fisheries adjustment, user engagement and management systems – Includes opportunities for activating tourism

A world of opportunities, and challenges! • Transition to a marine estate six times larger than that currently managed (about 2.7 million km 2 ) – will reinforce Australia’s position as a world leader – huge potential for promotion • Key areas for focus – Adjustment for commercial fishers – Compliance – Research and monitoring – Engaging marine users in management – Activating tourism!

Activating tourism in marine parks • Two key, complementary, objectives: – Improving to Australia’s visitor economy – High quality experiences that are engaging and raise awareness of the natural and cultural values of CMRs • Partnerships are critical • How do we best do it? – Marketing (Tourism Australia themes – nature, aquatic and coastal)? – Pick and promote winners? – Something we haven’t thought of yet?

Thank you Questions?

The Spectrum of Opportunities

Overview • Marine Park Tourism • Objectives • Pilot Projects • Areas of interest • Activating new opportunities

Activating tourism in CMRs • Complementary objectives of: – Improvement to Australia’s visitor economy – High quality experiences that are engaging and raise awareness of the natural and cultural values of CMRs

Pilot projects • Coral Sea story-sheets • Cairns Aquarium Coral Sea displays New partnerships

Cairns Aquarium Coral Sea displays Photo source: Cairns Aquarium website

Coral Sea Storysheets

Areas of interest

Tourism Gateways Gove Townsville, Broome Cairns & Port Douglas Exmouth Coffs Harbour Gippsland Bremer Kangaroo Bay Island Freycinet/ Bicheno

Queensland Coral Sea reefs and islands Coral Sea Marine Reserve

NSW Lord Howe and Norfolk Norfolk Marine Reserve Lord Howe Marine Reserve

Northern Territory Indigenous tourism & conservation partnerships

Western Australia Ningaloo (Commonwealth waters) Ningaloo Marine Reserve

Western Australia Bremer Bay Bremer Marine Reserve

South Australia Kangaroo Island & Great Australian Bight Great Australian Bight Marine Reserve Western & Southern KI Marine Reserves

Victoria & Tasmania Interpretation and guiding

A spectrum of opportunities On land On water

Zoos, museums gaming aquariums camping Wildlife viewing Super yachts Snorkelling Cruising Diving Charter fishing Scenic Flights Virtual reality Dry -diving Expedition cruising

Activating Tourism – Key elements Ongoing New and Supporting Expanded systems Next experiences 3 -4 years Content Generation Underway and ongoing

Next steps • Research • Further consultation to inform detailed design • Design and roll-out – Content – Experiences – Supporting systems • Evaluation

Any Questions?

Marine Tourism in Australia: International and Domestic Trends In the world Australia is ranked...

International trends Source: Tourism Australia

Value Australia’s marine tourism industry had an annual value of $14 billion in 2012

World Heritage sites Australia’s marine estate is home to some of the world’s most iconic and diverse marine habitats and organisms, and includes several World Heritage listed areas (the Great Barrier Reef, the Ningaloo coast and Shark Bay)

Growth potential Over the next decade, the blue economy is set to grow at 7.5 per cent per annum, far outstripping the projected 2.5 per cent growth rate of Australia’s GDP.

Discussion

Morning Tea

Partnerships Content Gateways New experiences

Roving Ideas Storm Instructions • 4 groups – Gateways – In park experiences – Experiences outside a park – Partnerships

Best ideas vote

Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)

Workshop Gift • Congratulations!

Lunch