Regional planning and resilient futures: Destination modelling and tourism development – ‘The case of the Ningaloo Coastal region in Western Australia’

Regional planning and resilient futures: Destination modelling and tourism development – ‘The case of the Ningaloo Coastal region in Western Australia’ Conference Proceedings

CAUTHE 2010: Tourism and Hospitality: Challenge the Limits

• Author(s): Jones, Tod, Glasson, John, Wood, David
• Published: 2010
• Publisher: Council of Australian Tourism and Hospitality Education

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Abstract: The regional scale of planning is increasingly being seen as an appropriate scale for the planning and management of more sustainable development, including tourism planning often through the concept of destinations. Yet regional planning faces many challenges, not least those of a contested stakeholder environment and the dangers of stakeholder bypass. In such situations it may be difficult to plan for resilient regional futures, and the sustainability of a region may be threatened by major shifts in the socio-economic and bio-physical environments. This can be particularly so in the case of tourism development in pristine and fragile environments. However if key stakeholders can be engaged in a more participative learning process, with the implications of potential future changes clearly set out for all to see, then there may be a more positive group approach to regional planning for resilient futures. The Ningaloo Destination Model project (NDM) provides an example of how such an approach can be developed and used to provide insights into the future development of an area in Western Australia which is home to one of the world's most significant fringing coral reefs. The paper focuses on how the process and use of the NDM project builds regional resilience to cope with disturbances. The various stages of model development and use are discussed. The paper concludes that the NDM needs more than good data and reliable modelling to contribute to regional planning; it also needs to encourage the characteristics that build regional resilience through the modelling process and model use.

• Urls: https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=815715196889839;res=IELBUS
• Publisher Location: Hobart