Category Archives: News

Tropical North Queensland is one of the most diversely beautiful and powerful Australian tourism stories. In 1978 the Far North Queensland Promotion Bureau was formed to focus on destination marketing and as a result tourism slowly overtook agriculture, forestry and mining as an economic driver for the community. Today, Far North Queensland Promotion Bureau Limited, trades as Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) and Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef, with the vision of becoming one of the world’s most inspiring nature-based destinations.

Image: Tourism Tropical North Queensland

TTNQ provides leadership and guidance to the Tropical North Queensland tourism industry and community stakeholders to maximise sustainable tourism growth for the economic and social benefit of all Tropical North Queenslanders.

 TTNQ aims to be a leader in destination management and champion of world’s best practice in sustainable tourism by building destination awareness in Australia and selected international markets through targeted marketing activities.

Image: Tourism Tropical North Queensland

TTNQ’s marketing, communications and partnership strategies are prioritised as they explore new digital and content opportunities that are changing the way leisure and business markets consume tourism products.

Their goal is to initiate high-level conversations with major airlines, tourism bodies, journalists, influencers, trade and online search engines to drive visitors to the region.

Photo: Tourism Tropical North Queensland

TTNQ has ambitious goals that are achieved by working closely to their 2020-2021 Strategic Direction.

TTNQ are proud to market the region to the world through stories founded around reef, rainforest, Indigenous, outback, lifestyle and adventure. If you are interested in working together with TTNQ they can help you unlock the story of The Tropics and build tourism success.

EA are happy to welcome Tourism Tropical North Queensland to our Ecotourism Australia family as a Business Member.

For more information, visit the Tourism Tropical North Queensland webpage or check them out on Facebook & Instagram       

Ecotourism Australia congratulates Tracks 4×4 Tagalong for achieving Nature Tourism Certification for their 4×4 tagalong tours. Some of the amazing destinations that Tracks 4×4 Tagalong can take you to are, The Simpson Desert, Cape York, The Canning Stock Route, The Gulf, The Darling River Run. To see what they are up to visit their website www.tracks4x4tagalong.com.au

Photo: Tracks 4×4 Tagalong

The Oakhampton Heights based operator is a newly operational business led by Adam Smith and his wife Lynda. Tracks 4×4 Tagalong is a small family run operation in which Adam organises and runs the day to day functions of the business and Lynda takes care of the operation in the office.

The business offers adventures that can be experienced in a safe and professional atmosphere. Guests participate in an off-road tagalong trip that is developed with extensive knowledge of four-wheel driving. During the tour, the group will stop for walks along formed tracks only and during the drive, vehicles will avoid passing through sensitive areas such as alpine grasslands, dunes, salt pans, steep hillsides and new forests.

Photo: Cape York Tagalong Tour / Facebook

Tracks 4×4 Tagalong offers overnight trips, with accommodation offered within the itinerary and the majority of those being camping based.

The tagalong 4×4 touring business is committed to working with local landholders to gain the full history of the location they are travelling through. These landholders may be the indigenous custodians, station owners or national park officers.

Tracks 4×4 Tagalong aims to be as environmentally friendly as possible and commits to only purchasing from environmentally responsible vendors. Where possible, supplies are bought locally, and local shops are supported during the tours. Vehicles are also serviced regularly. Adam and Lynda are passionate about running a sustainable business and strive for continuous improvement.

Congratulations to Tracks 4×4 Tagalong for joining the EA family! To learn more, visit their Facebook page or website.

Congratulations to Wild Adventures Melbourne, or WAM, for entering Ecotourism Australia’s family with both the Advanced Ecotourism and the Climate Action Business certifications!

Whether you live in Melbourne and are wanting to experience the nature around you, or are visiting and would like to explore beyond the city, WAM has you covered.

Photo: Sunrise Tour

Visit a selection of beautiful parks including Westerfolds Park, Candlebark Park, Warrandyte Park, and Plenty Gorge with two different eco adventure tours to choose from, the Sunrise wildlife adventure and the Ultimate Mornington Peninsula Adventure. You are ensured to enjoy an eco adventure filled with stunning views and native wildlife sightings, local food, and a good dose of stand-up paddleboarding.

Depending on the tour you choose, you will get to enjoy different activities like bush walking, mountain biking, a bath in the Peninsula Hot Springs or a delicious picnic at a local organic winery.

Photo: Hot Springs Ultimate Mornington Peninsula Adventure

Besides these great eco experiences, the WAM guys work hard to give back to the community and leave the places they visit even cleaner than they found them. Customers are provided with zero waste packs of reusable products, and portable bins are carried on to collect any litter seen in natural settings. Even though the activities they carry out have a very low impact in the environment, WAM donates to inspirational Australian charities and not for profits that support the protection and conservation of our lands, waters, and seas (including wildlife and marine life).

WAM is a member of 1% For the Planet, they offset their carbon emissions, and their adventures aim for sub-zero waste by using reusable products.

Their eco practices seek to inspire others in the industry to make positive change and a difference, as well as to encourage their customers to make lifestyle changes by demonstrating with their products how this can be done.

Photo: Kookaburra

Congratulations once again to Wild Adventures Melbourne for achieving Advanced Ecotourism and Climate Action Business certifications and welcome to the Ecotourism Australia family!

For more information about WAM visit their website, or their Instagram page.

February 2nd is World Wetlands Day, and what’s more, World Wetlands Day 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Treaty to protect significant wetland sites!

A wetland is an area of land where water covers the soil – even for only part of the year. They can be natural or artificial. The water in them can be still or flowing, fresh, salty or in-between (brackish). Wetlands are found in all kinds of places – along the coast, in the mountains, in dry inland areas, even underground. Many of them are connected by rivers.

With wetlands globally under increasing pressure from development, climate change and other threats, it’s more important than ever to recognise the value of these unique ecosystems, big and small. 

Wetland biodiversity contributes to ecosystem resilience, clean water, water supply, storm protection, carbon storage, health and well-being, recreation, tourism and jobs.

Ecotourism Australia (EA) have many members and certified tourism operators who incorporate wetlands into their tourism products in a sustainable way. Offering responsible and respectful wetland tourism experiences can have a positive impact on experiential learning and awareness for wetland biodiversity, natural processes, protection and regeneration.

Rich with abundance, wetlands are some of the best places to spot wildlife or go birdwatching. Advanced Ecotourism ECO certified Araucaria Ecotours operate from the Brisbane Region, QLD to deliver zoologist and naturalist led wildlife tours. Their Birdwatching day tour is tailored to their guests, visiting either Eagleby Wetlands or Lake Wivenhoe. You are guaranteed to see a variety of waterbirds with stops at forested areas for the occasional bush bird siting.

Image: Araucaria Ecotours / Facebook

Ecotourism ECO certified, Hall of Fame operator Kingfisher Cruises, from the Murray Region, Victoria offers tours in the World-Heritage listed Barmah Wetlands. Hear fascinating commentary from a certified ECO guide about the hundreds of species of water birds, animals and native fish that have made the Barmah wetlands and forest their home.

Image: Kingfisher Tours / Facebook

Advanced Ecotourism ECO certified Cruise Maroochy Ecotours, from the Sunshine Coast, QLD offers eco cruises to the Maroochy wetlands sanctuary, showcasing awe inspiring displays of healthy and extensive mangrove forests. Cruise Maroochy respect the natural balance of the local estuarine system. Their Creek to Coast cruise exposes this balance and the damaging influence of local development and agriculture. This cruise is taken only during high tides to minimise the impact on the seabed.

Image: Cruise Maroochy/ Instagram

South to Tasmania, 41 Degrees South Salmon and Ginseng Farm run a sustainable inland farm and tourist attraction near Launceston. When taking a tour around 41 Degrees South, visitors can explore the elevated boardwalks over the wetlands and experience farming in a natural setting. Salmon are grown in fresh waters, which flow, gravity fed, into the salmon tanks and through natural and man-made wetlands. There is always something to see as changing seasons bring different birds and wetland wildlife, giving them a habitat to feed, breed, nest and rest.

Image: 41 Degrees South Salmon and Ginseng Farm / Facebook

Join an ECO certified tourism operator on a tour to learn more about our wonderful wetlands.

Celebrate World Wetlands Day on social media by including the hashtags #WorldWetlandsDay and #RespectRamsar

[Banner Image: Barmah National Park / Visit Melbourne]

Congratulations to Elysian Retreat for achieving ECO Certification at the Advanced Ecotourism level and Climate Action Business Certification for its luxury eco-retreat. These certifications recognise Elysian Retreat’s commitment and dedication to sustainable practices and climate change action.

Located in the turquoise waters of the Whitsundays, this family-owned retreat offers all-inclusive luxurious sustainable accommodation. The exclusively tailored experiences and secluded location in Long Island are ideal for those with busy lifestyles looking for a bit of calm and serenity. The all-inclusive package allows guests to taste a custom menu of specially catered and sustainably sourced local cuisine. To top it off, a personalised organic spa and a range of aquatic adventures for every individual are also available.

Whitsundays aerial – Photo credit Elysian Retreat

For those longing for privacy, the adult-only retreat has a maximum of 20 guests at a time policy and can also be hired on a sole-occupancy basis in the event you do not want to share this reef paradise.

Drift away in outdoor hammocks, find stillness in the zen garden, laze on the day beds or float in the gentle mineral resort pool.

The sustainability journey for Elysian Retreat starts right from the beginning at their supply chain. As part of the Elysian Sustainable Purchasing Policy, they carefully choose many of their suppliers based on their ethos and commitment to sustainability.

Villas aerial – Photo credit Elysian Retreat

Following in the footsteps of their sister retreat Pumpkin Island, one of EA’s certified members and Australia’s first beyond carbon neutral island, Elysian Retreat is the Great Barrier Reef’s first resort to be 100 per cent powered by the sun’s energy. Thus offsetting 150% of their emissions and becoming carbon negative.

Ocean front villa – Photo credit Elysian Retreat

All the water on the island is filtered rainwater and different systems throughout the facilities ensure that as much water as possible is conserved. A modern wastewater treatment system allows for all the water to be reused. Other special environmental measures incorporated into their daily operations include a kitchen garden, minimised waste production through composting practices, biodegradable cleaning products, and minimising the use of plastic.

The environment is a key focus for Elysian Retreat who collaborates to rehabilitate damaged coral from the Great Barrier Reef. They have adopted a coral through the Reef Restoration Foundation’s Coral Crusaders program, which will enable for other damaged corals to regenerate. This recently created program has seen great success in coral growth planting new coral colonies on damaged reef.

Congratulations once again to Elysian Retreat for achieving Advanced Ecotourism Certification and Climate Action Business Certification for their island secluded eco-retreat, and welcome to the Ecotourism Australia family!

To find out more about Elysian Retreat, visit their website or Facebook page.

[Banner image supplied by Elysian Retreat]