Curtin University of Technology and CSIRO researchers are visiting the Exmouth area to unveil future sustainable tourism scenarios for Ningaloo.
Curtin Deputy Vice-Chancellor International Professor David Wood said the Ningaloo Tourism Destination Model could help plan tourism development in the region.
“The model is a unique and innovative tool for use in determining the social, economic and environmental impacts of tourism along the Ningaloo coast,” Professor Wood said.
“It works by producing a representation of tourists’ activities and impacts and how these may change under different development and management scenarios.
“It will be freely provided to the region for use by local tourism operators, shires and authorities, and representatives from public agencies and local industries.”
A result of public workshops during the past two years in Exmouth, Carnarvon and Coral Bay, the model is part of the Ningaloo Tourism Destination Modelling Project led by Professor Wood and Curtin researcher Dr Tod Jones.
By feeding the results of the Ningaloo Tourism Destination Model into another model, developed by CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Flagship, the ecological impacts of change can also be explored.
Both models will be used to build a larger model of the complete system by late 2010, which will explore sustainable futures for Ningaloo such as tourism, agriculture, oil and gas and other industries.
The Ningaloo Tourism Destination Model is a project of the CSIRO Ningaloo Collaboration Cluster and is funded by CSIRO’s Flagship Collaboration Fund and Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC).
Contact: Dr Tod Jones, Curtin, 0401 103 011, T.Jones@curtin.edu.au, 08 9266 4709
