Future Tourism: Two projects could jumpstart indigenous sector

Major infrastructure investment is required if the State Government is serious about its declaration of 2020 as the Year of Indigenous Tourism — and two opportunities are waiting in the Far North.

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MAJOR infrastructure investment is required if the State Government is serious about declaring 2020 the Year of Indigenous Tourism – and two clear opportunities await in the Far North.

Cairns Regional Council’s push for a new $40 million gallery precinct focusing on indigenous art has so far failed to attract state or federal funding.

The campaign to build a national indigenous cultural centre in Cairns has also fallen on deaf ears so far.

Ginlare Tamulevicirte from Lithuania watches on as Tjapukai performer Warrick Newbury gets a fire started after creating hot embers with a fire stick. PICTURE: STEWART MCLEAN

Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park general manager Shirley Hollingsworth said creating a major national-level centre celebrating Australia’s indigenous roots would have to be carefully managed.

Would it focus on the rainforest people of the Wet Tropics or spread its scope wider?

How would it negotiate the complex and sometimes conflicted relationships that exist between disparate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups?

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Those questions must be answered before any meaningful detailed planning begins.

“You have to get everyone around the table,” Ms Hollingsworth said. “For me, I can’t talk about desert country because that’s not my particular area.

“We’ve got national museums and things like that with all the artefacts – it depends on what’s being looked at in terms of that centre.”

Vaida Bikeraite from Lithuania works a traditional fire stick under the watch of Warrick Newbury, Andrew Newbury and May Haeley from Tjapukai dance troop. PICTURE: STEWART MCLEAN

If handled correctly, Ms Hollingsworth said such an institution could help cement Cairns’ status as the gateway to the Far North, attracting international tourists, whetting their appetite for cultural knowledge and sending them to Australia’s northern tip to complete their journey.

It could complement existing indigenous tourism enterprises like Mandingalbay Ancient Indigenous Tours in East Trinity, and Dreamtime Dive and Snorkel’s tours of the Great Barrier Reef.

Tjapukai dancer Mary Brin with a weaved basket. PICTURE: STEWART MCLEAN

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive officer Mark Olsen said celebrating the region’s natural affinity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture would be critical to its prosperity.

“There’s a great opportunity for us as a community to embrace this,” he said.

“We have an incredibly compelling story to tell around nature, culture and community that puts us in a very rare position.”

Originally published as Future Tourism: Two projects could jumpstart indigenous sector