The 27th Global Eco Asia Pacific conference heads to Cairns, Queensland

Global Eco Asia-Pacific is the world’s leading, and longest running ecotourism conference. This reputation hasn’t been achieved by accident. Global Eco Asia-Pacific brings together delegates from industry, protected area management agencies, tourism commissions and academia to focus on developing the ecotourism industry. Indigenous ecotourism is also a key part of the conference focus. The strength of the conference lies in the fact that key players come together around the one table and deal with the big policy issues, the disruptive market issues and the enormous opportunities and responsibilities.

This year in Cairns - flanked by both the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and the gateway to Cape York and the Savannah, we will, amongst other topics, explore the challenges and opportunities for World Heritage Area based ecotourism. In particular, we will focus on indigenous tourism enterprises and the place of social license in developing successful green tourism destinations. I would like to encourage protected area managers, operators and indigenous communities and tourism destination managers to attend this year’s conference. Importantly we will also focus on the development of green destinations – an issue close to the heart of many of Australia’s local government authorities who are blessed with extraordinary natural and cultural heritage values and seek to build an economic base for their communities while sustaining these very values.

The engagement of protected area managers with ecotourism continues to evolve and we now see the emergence of strategic partnerships, co-investment and privately funded conservation across many jurisdictions. The 2019 conference will highlight trends, policy and case studies related to tourism on protected areas.

It is seven years since the conference was held in Cairns and there have been major tourism and conservation initiatives undertaken across those years. The 2019 Ecotourism Australia Conference Committee, led by Mr Innes Larkin, along with our key sponsors, partners and supporters have an objective of making the 2019 event the best ever. A major strength of the Global Eco Conference is the depth and diversity of experience of the delegates. I look forward to adding your expertise to this mix.

Tony Charters, AM
Convenor
Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference