Tourism council should back World Heritage

If the Tourism Industry Council really cares about World Heritage areas it should come out against the Abbott government’s attempts to delist and log them, Australian Greens senators said today.

“It’s a bit rich for the Tourism Industry Council to be appealing to Bob Brown to help it sell tourism in World Heritage Areas while the Abbott government is trying to destroy them,” Greens Leader Christine Milne said.

“Instead of dreaming up ways to get on the front pages it should be calling for full protection for these areas and adequate funding to ensure they’re managed properly.

“We’ll be doing all we can to ensure the government’s attempt to delist the Tasmanian World Heritage Area falls in a screaming heap in Doha in two weeks, and the Tourism industry should be right behind us,” Senator Milne said.

Greens tourism spokesperson Peter Whish-Wilson said calls for more development in World Heritage Areas are off the mark.

“Our World Heritage Areas are already drawing tourists from around the globe,” Senator Whish-Wilson said.

“We don’t need to build hotels in the middle of our wilderness to attract more tourists, we need to protect that wilderness so it continues to draw tourists for decades to come.

“The tourism industry should make the most of what we already have with better marketing of our natural areas and top-quality services and facilities outside of parks.

“Our natural areas are preserved for everyone to enjoy, they are not there for a few developers to make a quick buck.

“We’re happy to work with the tourism industry to improve tourism infrastructure around the state, which is far more urgent than exclusive exploitation of national parks,” Senator Whish-Wilson said.