How to create new and exceptional Indigenous tourism experiences
It’s the perfect time to be inspired by Australia’s premier Indigenous experiences, and to consider how to develop and grow exceptional Indigenous tourism businesses with Australia’s national tourism strategy, THRIVE 2030, prioritising
the respectful embedding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures into the visitor economy through initial partnerships and ongoing inclusion
the opportunity of growing unique and high-quality products, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experiences.
AUSTRALIA’S BEST ABORIGINAL TOURISM EXPERIENCES
Winners and finalists of the Australian Tourism Awards for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Tourism this year were
GOLD Spirits of the Red Sand - Logan (south Brisbane), QLD
A unique roving theatre experience in an historical village that takes you from Dreamtime to the 1800s Australia when British and Aboriginal ways of life collided, with the cast acting out the true story of their forefathers.
Tilma Group’s Linda Tillman had the pleasure of taking her family to Spirits of the Red Sands in southern Brisbane and it was by far the best regional tourism experience she had ever experienced!
That's a big call, considering that in her career she has visited and experienced hundreds of tourism products and experiences across the country.
This experience was not only high quality, it was emotional (somewhat harrowing), powerful, authentic and completely moving.
Everyone should experience this world class indigenous tourism experience! This article will share more about why you should visit (it was voted Queensland’s best tourism experience by RACQ members)
Roving theatre at Spirits of the Red Sand
SILVER wukalina Walk - Bay of Fires, lutruwita/TAS
A four-day guided journey across this traditional homeland.
BRONZE Go Cultural Aboriginal Tours and Experiences - Perth, WA
Noongar tour guides share the First Story of this land, before Europeans arrived, invoking the sights and sounds of ancient Noongar life as it was since the beginning of time, through stories, song and ceremonies.
FINALISTS
Dingo Dreaming - Blyth, SA
An educational gallery with a wide selection of homewares, gifts, bush balms, and more.
Giingan Gumbaynggirr Cultural Experience - Sealy Lookout, Korora (just north of Coffs Harbour), NSW
This tour not only offers guests an unforgettable cultural experience, but also offers the Gumbaynggirr community an opportunity to participate and experience speaking traditional language and practicing culture on Country.
Standley Chasm - Angkerle Atwatye - Alice Springs, NT
Half-day tours guided by an Arrente local to provide visitors with the most authentic and knowledgeable understanding of local flora and fauna, as well as the spiritual connection to this ancient land.
The tour includes a guided walk up to Standley Chasm, and afterwards a guided dialogue about traditional and contemporary Aboriginal society and how we can continue to preserve Indigenous culture.
Discover 185 more authentic Aboriginal tourism experiences
TOURISM AWARDS
State tourism awards support Indigenous tourism businesses as planning tools to help them get clear on their
target markets and how their product/service meet their needs
USP (unique selling proposition) and how they communicate that to potential visitors
customer service philosophy, measurement of customer satisfaction, and identification of needed improvements
commitment to staff training and innovation
economic, social and environment sustainability
business goals (and achievements!)
risk management processes, and
collaboration with the tourism industry
However, writing a tourism award is a huge commitment that not all businesses feel they can afford the time to do. Do you know of any amazing Indigenous experiences that should be in the running to win the award for Australia’s best Indigenous experience this year? Tell us in the comments below.
STARTING A NEW INDIGENOUS TOURISM BUSINESS
To tap into tourism, Traditional Owners can:
create their own tourism business, or partner with another tourism business
work for and/or collaborate with existing operators – a great place to start and learn
get started with events
However, there can be challenges faced by those who want to develop a new Indigenous tourism business, as the following case studies show.
Holding a remote Indigenous festival
Working on a strategic plan for Desert Harmony Festival for Barkly Regional Arts in Tennant Creek in the centre of the Northern Territory was an eye-opening experience for Tilma Group. We have worked with over 40 regional festivals and events, but never have we seen so many challenges faced by one event.
Not only can distance, cultural barriers, access to talent and cost create challenges, but even the positive act of bringing everyone in nearby Indigenous communities into town to celebrate local Indigenous and multicultural music, art and togetherness sometimes resulted in social challenges.
In spite of the huge hurdles faced, Barkly Regional Arts used the festival to showcase a year’s worth of new art and music created by the community, and brought in professional artists, musicians and performers from around Australia such as Opera Australia and Fly Factory trapeze, who all spent a week or two providing training to the community in performance and technical skills.
Developing new Indigenous accommodation and tourism experiences
Camping with Custodians is a rich cultural experience developed in recent years by Tourism WA, Western Australia’s state tourism organization, in association with eight indigenous communities in the remote north east corner of Western Australia.
High quality campgrounds have been built on Aboriginal lands, and are operated by the communities. Visitors have the chance to meet and mix with Aboriginal people, and experience local lifestyle and culture.
Tourism WA coordinated the land assembly and campground planning initiatives for the projects including assessments of Native Title and heritage, studies of flora, fauna, hydrology and soils, and planning and building approvals from local Government.
Tourism WA reported they found the regulative environment so difficult to negotiate, they felt that if the communities had been expected to do it on their own, the projects would never have happened – an experience that will hopefully result in changes to ease the development of new Indigenous tourism businesses.
Developing a new Indigenous festival
Tilma Group supported Surat Aboriginal Corportation (SAC) in Roma, QLD, with the concept planning of a new Indigenous festival to help promote their project, the South West Queensland Indigenous Cultural Trail.
We supported the team with the development of festival business and marketing plans, and applying for seed funding via the Year of Outback Tourism Events Program.
Although SAC manager Jessica Walsh was very excited about developing the event, she found the practicalities of trying to involve a number of Indigenous communities over large distances a challenge:
What do you think would be good to share with tourists from your culture in your new festival?
I love our culture and history. I am very proud to be a part of such a strong culture who have dancing, language, bush tucker, amazing artists and so much more which will be shared at the festival. I think tourists and people who don't get a chance to see our culture will be wowed by all the things that will be offered through our stalls, traditional games for the kids and our Indigenous singers who will be one of our big performances.What challenges did you face around developing a new Indigenous tourism product?
The challenges I found were trying to bring together all of the different communities and their amazing talents together in one festival. I didn't want to miss anyone or leave anyone out but being new to my role at SAC it was tricky as I haven't formed strong networks in every community yet. Hopefully the festival can help achieve that too.What challenges did you experience around getting local Indigenous communities involved?
It was difficult to reach out to all of the communities within the South West Queensland Indigenous Cultural Trail region but I am slowly forming some great connections with the Indigenous communities and hopefully once the other towns hear about our festival we can work together to bring them all in to showcase what they have to offer so tourists can visit their towns and experience their cultural sites.What solutions do you need?
Working with a wide range of people helped me work out what works and what could possibly be a problem for the festival in the future. It gave me different perspectives on what was most important and what I needed to adjust to have a successful festival.
Identifying suitable new Aboriginal tourism businesses
Tilma Group worked with the Western Kangoulu of the Central Queensland Highlands around Emerald to secure a grant for Tilma Group to review their cultural and physical assets and the region’s tourism landscape to identify gaps and opportunities for new tourism businesses that would enable Western Kangoulu people who had been forcibly removed from Country to return home to a tourism job.
Having secured funding, Tilma Group undertook extensive consultation, desktop research and a tour of Country. Based on an analysis of learnings, Tilma Group identified an opportunity to construct an ecotourism caravan park with Indigenous cultural experiences and tours on offer. Tilma Group identified the wrap-around supportive actions to undertake to support such a development, including identifying culture the Western Kangoulu wished to share, and skill development opportunities.
Linda Tillman of Tilma Group with Jonno Malone of the Western Kangoulu
SUPPORT FOR ABORIGINAL TOURISM BUSINESSES
There is a lot of support for developing, and growing, Indigenous tourism businesses.
As the CEO for the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada says, "Indigenous tourism needs to be market driven. The fact is, if we want to help Indigenous communities and businesses, we need to create businesses that will be sustainable."
Destination NSW’s Aboriginal Tourism Action Plan has seen Destination NSW develop a close working relationship with NSW Aboriginal cultural tourism operators and key state government stakeholders in a wide range of development and marketing activities.
There are now NSW Aboriginal cultural tourism products right across NSW which provide enriching experiences for visitors.
Since the Year of Indigenous Tourism (2020 and 2021), a range of new support is now available for Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tourism businesses to further develop their experiences and grow their businesses:
a $10 million Growing Indigenous Tourism in Queensland Fund
an Indigenous tourism strategy for South East Queensland, the Queensland First Nations Tourism Plan 2020-2025, which sets a pathway toward creation of more tourism businesses and jobs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council has a list of resources to assist businesses in the recruitment, management and retention of Indigenous employees, including a number of case studies.
The following organisations support the development new Indigenous tourism businesses and the growth of Indigenous tourism capacity:
Indigenous Business Australia supports Traditional Owners to start, grow and buy businesses.
The national Indigenous Tourism Fund helps individual businesses and community organisations invest in developing new products, equipment, business planning and marketing in the tourism
The Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation helps Indigenous people buy and manage land, salt water and fresh water so they can achieve economic, environmental, social and cultural benefits.
Western Australian Indigenous Tourism Operators Council (WAITOC) has supported the development of 32 Indigenous tourism businesses since 2017.
Department of Trade, Business and Innovation Northern Territory Government has developed 14 Indigenous tourism businesses in remote locations across the NT.
Outback Academy Australia focuses on accelerating economic opportunities with Aboriginal communities through land-based business and employment, particularly in the bush foods, botanicals and linked tourism/hospitality industries.
SUPPORT FROM REGIONAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT EXPERTS
Mandandanji man Lane Brookes of Roma QLD with Kushla Gale of Tilma Group
Tourism award support
Tilma Group was so impressed with the experience at Spirits of the Red Sand we asked if we could help write their tourism award submission, helping them to win Gold at the Australian Tourism Awards.
If you are running an Indigenous tourism business and would like feedback on how to improve your tourism award submission, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Kushla at kushla@tilmagroup.com.au.
The submission process for the state tourism awards (which feeds into the national tourism awards) normally begins around March each year (it varies by state). Find links to all of the state tourism award websites here.
New tourism business, product or event support
If you need help to determine the best new tourism product to develop, we can help you define the scope of your project with strategic planning and business case development.
We can also support your project by helping with applications for grant funding.
Contact us at admin@tilmagroup.com.au for a free half hour consultation to discuss your project.
Learn more about Aboriginal tourism in our other articles:
Please share your knowledge with us in the comments, such as a wonderful Indigenous tourism experience you have had or a great resource for Indigenous tourism businesses.