Sustainable tourism in remote Australia: strategies for physical planning and infrastructure

Sustainable tourism in remote Australia: strategies for physical planning and infrastructure Thesis

School of Humanities

  • Author(s): Bull, Catherin Jane
  • Published: 1991
  • Publisher: Harvard University
  • Volume: D.Des

Abstract: Using theoretical and case studies, this dissertation explores how remoteness, tourism and sustainability relate to the planning of infrastructure for National Parks in remote Australia. Remote Australia is attractive to tourist activity because of its qualities of difference, uniqueness, naturalness, vastness, emptiness, ancient culture and 'reality'. Irregular and extreme natural disturbances, lack of formal knowledge, a sparse and often unstable population, however, combine with a reliance on distant markets to constrain how any enterprise proceeds here, including tourism. The characteristics of remoteness influence the type of planning required to ensure that tourist activity conserves environments as it interprets them, and suggest that modes of travel based on the experiences of discovery, exploration and education are the most appropriate. This thesis presents an evaluative model for sustainable tourist activity. This model links the major criteria constituting (1) care of the natural and cultural environment, and (2) use for environmental experience, with (3) the processes controlling them, especially physical planning and infrastructure provision. It is used to evaluate three cases, Bedarra Island, Lizard Island and Uluru/Yulara, over the period of their use and development. Lack of interpretation, possibilities for exploration or reflection, and a restricted choice of on-site experiences were the major weaknesses identified from the cases. Accommodation isolated from major attractions exacerbated these problems. These issues, combined with an evolving knowledge base and the administrative division between care and use, indicate the need for a significant investment in the processes of resource assessment, coordinated management planning and the clarification of experiential goals, along with a more consistent application of those strategies which successfully contributed towards sustainability on the case sites.

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Suggested Citation
Bull, Catherin Jane, 1991, Sustainable tourism in remote Australia: strategies for physical planning and infrastructure, Volume:D.Des, Thesis, viewed 13 February 2025, https://www.nintione.com.au/?p=11063.

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