Western Australia’s national parks are famed around the world for their pristine, natural beauty … but they also look likely to be home to a lot more luxury accommodation in the future.
On her last day as the head of the state’s tourism body, Stephanie Buckland, said developing high-end accommodation opportunities would help make national parks more accessible. And she said the iconic Cape Le Grand National Park near Esperance, and the Porongurup Range near Albany, were examples of ideal locations for these sorts of developments.
Ms Buckland told the West Australian newspaper that the Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island in South Australia and the Saffire Freycinet Resort on Tasmania’s east coast were the sort of national park developments that could be replicated in WA.
“This type of special accommodation in some of our unique locations would be very attractive,” she told the paper. “It can be done sensitively and it can be done without impacting on the natural environment.”
She also said there was potential to make walking and walk trails a feature of WA’s tourism offerings, similar to Tasmania and New Zealand.
“I would love to see a situation where you could go for a long walk on the beautiful Bibbulmun Track and, at the end of the day, have somewhere very comfortable to rest,” she told the West Australian.
The way in which Australia’s national parks are changing with more development being encouraged and allowed has been a matter of fierce debate in grey nomad circles and all national park users.
Ms Buckland’s comments come just days after the first major tourist development in a Queensland national park was given the green light by the State Government.
