Several hours north of Brisbane, tourists are heading into the Outback for a unique holiday experience.
Aboriginal owned and operated tour companies across the country are giving tourists a unique insight into Australia’s landscape, but also taking the opportunity to break traditional stereotypes about indigenous people living in Australia.
Day and overnight trips take tourists on guided expeditions off the beaten track to explore unspoilt scenery and visit Aboriginal communities.
Senator Nick Sherry, the Minister Assisting on Tourism said: “Australia’s indigenous culture is a key point of differentiation in a highly competitive world market place.”
Indigenous tourism is already a $3.8 billion (£2.5 billion) industry, and there are 46 different tour operators recognised as part of the Indigenous Tourism Champions program, catering to some 689,000 international tourists and another 306,000 overnight trips each year.
Haydyn Bromley – cultural director and chief tour guide at Bookabee Tours – centres tours around the culture of the Flinders Rangers. He said: “I’m a traditional owner in the Flinders Rangers and I’m also on the board of directors of our local traditional land association. When I take people and show them a tree, I can tell them its traditional name and how it fits in our society.”
“I can show them where my grandfather was born and where he went through his initiation, and rock painting sites, where I tell the stories and interpret them. As a mainstream operator, you can’t do that.”
Further south, tourists in Melbourne are heading into the Bush and choosing Mungo National Park to visit ancient campsites along Lake Mungo and learn more about the indigenous people who made their living on the lake.
Aboriginal elder Wllie Gordon, who runs indigenous tour group Guurrbi Tours, said: “There’s a lot of misconception about indigenous people in Australia. Sometimes we’re categorized too much by the 40,000 years concept and Dreamtime, but my father was still living out in the wild in the 1930s. Today, we live in a modern society, but we still have our cultural values.
“I’ve been given stories by my father and now I’ve become the story keeper.”
http://www.cnngo.com/sydney/visit/indigenous-tourism-australia-906531?page=0,0&hpt=itr_t1
