Indigenous-owned tourism masterplan created in Arnhem Land

AUSTRALASIA – The Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia are embarking on a strategy to create indigenous-owned tourism businesses across Australia’s ‘Top End’.
 
The plan has been made possible with the announcement of a Federal Government grant of AU$825,000 (US$854,000).
 
The Yolngu Cultural Tourism Masterplan claims to be the first of its kind in Australia and aims to develop new tourism opportunities for businesses owned and operated by indigenous people.
 
Launched by the Minister for Tourism, the Hon Martin Ferguson, and the Chairman of the Lirrwi Yolngu Tourism Aboriginal Corporation, Djawa Murrmurrnga (Timmy) Burarrwanga, the plan aims to create sustainable employment and lasting economic benefits for Yolngu people throughout Arnhem Land.
 
It has been developed by Burarrwanga, a Gumatj man from Yirrkala in North East Arnhem Land, who established Lirrwi Tourism and created a long-term vision based on Aboriginal leadership.
 
“We have been sharing our culture with visitors for many years, but we now want to move to the next stage and create a new economy based on cultural tourism in Arnhem Land,” Burarrwanga says. “We want to introduce people from Australia and all over the world to our country, our dance, our music, our ceremonies, our art and our unique way of life.”
 
The masterplan has been developed with the support of a former MD of the Australian Tourist Commission (now Tourism Australia), John Morse AM. “The Yolngu people have an extraordinary vision and want to share their knowledge, culture and homelands with the outside world,” Morse says. “The potential is exciting and stands to benefit not just the Yolngu people but also the wider Australian tourism industry.”
 
Morse says the masterplan was in part inspired by successful African safari camps managed by Indigenous communities in Botswana. It would benefit from strong interest in indigenous culture in several of Australia’s traditional tourism markets like Germany and the United States, as well as in emerging markets in Asia and the large Australian domestic market.
 
Any conference-related news? Email sarah@mashmedia.net