The Queensland Tourism and Conservation Alliance recognises that there is increasing demand for access to public protected areas for a range of uses, including tourism. Appropriate tourism facilities and activities in public protected areas can cater to this demand and broaden the range of people who connect with, and become more appreciative of natural and cultural values, leading to broader community support for protected areas. This can represent a benefit to protected areas, regional communities and the tourism industry.

With ever-increasing pressures on public protected areas, any associated tourism facilities and/or activities within public protected areas must align with leading practice to avoid degradation of the local values and visitor experience. Tourism facilities and activities in public protected areas should have minimal impact and be carefully monitored to ensure that:

• Appreciation of natural and cultural values is central to the activity and actively promoted;
• The integrity of the public protected area is maintained;
• Public enjoyment of the public protected area is not infringed; and
• Tourism businesses meet international best practice sustainability standards which means minimum negative impact on the environment and maximum positive impact on communities and culture and are independently audited.

Tourism facilities and activities that are out of scale, not sympathetic to their natural surroundings, or not primarily focused on appreciation of protected area values can all cause detrimental impacts and/or place undue demands on limited protected area management resources and should not be supported. QTCA supports the true principles of “ecotourism” in public protected areas, which is tourism that is ecologically sustainable and primarily focused on experiencing an area in a way that fosters understanding, appreciation and conservation of the area and its natural and cultural values.

QTCA believes that when managed responsibly, tourism can contribute positively to conservation efforts by promoting awareness, monitoring and even facilitating restoration. Additionally, tourism businesses can play a vital role in supporting cleanup efforts and maintaining public protected area facilities where management capacity is limited, as shown by efforts from adventure tourism operators on K’gari after 2022 South East Queensland flooding.

To support these broader goals, there is an ongoing need for trained and certified interpretive staff to deliver high-quality interpretation of public protected area values. Tour operators in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park can serve as an exemplar, where the world-leading High Standard Tour Operator program demonstrates the potential for a balanced coexistence between tourism and conservation, offering a scalable model for other regions.

Sufficient revenue should be raised from tourism activities in public protected areas to meaningfully contribute to the maintenance of local infrastructure (e.g. nearby trails, lookouts, amenities), as well as improvement of the local environment (via restoration, revegetation, weed management etc.).

As of June 2024, Queensland’s protected area estate is only about half the 17% target committed to by the Queensland Government. The expansion of tourism in public protected areas should be considered in the context of realistically funded management and long-term commitment to strategic growth of the protected area estate.