Considering one in three jobs are reliant on the tourism industry it’s worth asking: are the goals compatible?

The region has a clear lack of housing, the Whitsunday Islands are at risk of being overcrowded, and crucial roads aren’t floodproofed, occasionally cutting access to the hospital.

Bringing more big cruise ships will increase spending, but as waves of tourists flash with cash land on shore ready to spend and contribute, emissions inevitably will increase as the big, lumbering thirsty ships dock.

International visitation numbers are still short compared to 2019, despite overnight visitor expenditure jumping from $900m to $1.4bn in the past five years.

By 2032, the goal is to reach $2.1bn in annual spend by tourists.

The reports authors claim the plan is to target Chinese tourists, the German and Scandinavian markets in Europe, along with the UK and North America.

A spokeswoman for Tourism Whitsundays said potential tourism developments — some 1500 rooms — being finalised in the next five years would make the target “doable”.

1500 more short term rooms, but what about our locals?

To double the growth and increase numbers of visitors coming to the region, Tourism Whitsundays said there needs to be an additional 1500 rooms for visitors, which would keep feeding the short-term rental market.

This is despite the Whitsunday Regional Council receiving complaints from locals at each meeting, when requests to turn houses located in residential suburbs into short term accommodation are approved.

Whitsundays popular restaurant Fish D’Vine owner Kevin Collins said he had lived in the region for the past 40 years and had seen Airlie Beach grow, and that one thing locals would always want to sustain is the “village appeal” of the seaside town.

“The last thing we need is development for development’s sake, [ …] it should be in keeping with the long term strategic goals of the community,” Mr Collins said referring to the strong opposition from the community after a high rise project was approved in town.

“I would personally hate to see them kill the goose that lays the golden egg.”

Sustainability targets v cruise ships

Tourism Whitsundays has indicated its ambition to obtain a Sustainable Destination Certification (SDC), which would entail that “all operations have considered their environmental impacts and documented their impact management in an environmental management plan or a sustainability management system”.

This goes in line with the Towards Tourism 2032 report released by Queensland Tourism in 2022, which outlines the goal to bring the industry’s emissions 30% below the 2005 levels by 2032.

Tourism Whitsundays’ report states this would require the Queensland tourism industry to reduce its emissions by 52 per cent but did not provide a clear outline as to how this goal could be achievable.

A scathing analysis of the government’s strategy by Auditor-General Brendan Worrall had outlined the lack of “clarity of government policy, priority, and risk appetite needed “to stimulate greater eco-tourism investment and benefits”.

Tourism Whitsundays said it is in the process of obtaining the SDC and that it was “achievable” by growing the Whitsunday Healthy Heart project to 80+ participants, or become part of the ASPIRE Waste Network.

Whitsunday Escape owner Trevor Rees said drastically reducing Co2 emissions would not be possible if the numbers of cruise ships coming to the region kepped increasing.

This is already the case as this publication had found numbers of cruise ships have increased by more than a third in the last five years.

Mr Rees said the average 3000 passenger on a domestic operating ship is generating 1,220,900kg of Co2 a day, according to figures provided by the environmental organisation Friends of the Earth, which would be equivalent to more than three times the Co2 emissions of all other operators in the marine park combined.

“Should biofuels become available, the intention to decarbonise the region is aspirational and achievable,” Mr Rees said.

“The region will however need to engage with the cruise ship industry to achieve any meaningful reduction in Co2 emissions.”

Take tourism on land

The report indicates the region should diversify tourism activities and take them on land-based activities, not solely on the islands.

“We are surrounded by both the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Conway National Park which are great assets for the Whitsundays, but also contributes to limited opportunities for land-based experiences, so part of the strategy is about how we look at dispersal into the region as well,” the spokeswoman said.

Notable projects in the works on land w0uld be the development of Lake Proserpine as a destination or the development of the Skyway project.

Launching rockets from the Bowen spaceport could also bring a new form of tourism to the region.

Mr Rees said the island’s iconic spots such as Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet are “at near capacity” with any marina space for new operators “unlikely”.

“The area is blessed with a number of national parks and state forests which are presently inaccessible to the public,” Mr Rees said.

“They need to be made accessible to the public and visitors, 4wd tracks cleared, campgrounds prepared and mountain bike tracks developed.”

List of Destination Priority Projects

- The Whitsundays Skyway Project

- Whitsunday Coast Regional Airport

- Shute Harbour Marine Terminal – stage 2 development

- Reef education and training facility

- Super yacht infrastructure and facility development

- Coal Face Experience lift facilities in Collinsville

- Lake Proserpine stage 2 development