The Queensland Government plans to fast track a new tourism venture on a stretch of pristine national park close to the Great Barrier Reef in the state’s far north.
The ABC reports that the venture is expected to include eco-accommodation options such as glamping or cabins. It will also include a 76-kilometre bikeway and walking trail known as the Wangetti Trail from Palm Cove to Port Douglas, north of Cairns.
Tourism Minister Kate Jones said she hoped the business case would be finalised by September so construction could begin next year.
“A new day is dawning for tourism in Queensland,” she told the ABC. “This is the first eco-tourism project that will see glamping and cabins on national park here in Queensland … we are bringing Queensland tourism into a new era.”
The State Government is also calling for tenders to build new accommodation and additional bushwalking trails in another national park on Whitsunday Island, off Airlie Beach in north Queensland.
However, some opponents of the plan have questioned its wisdom given that many similar tourism ventures have run into problems. In recent years, resorts on Dunk, South Molle, Lindeman and Hinchinbrook islands have either been struggling or have closed and been left in ruins after the global financial crisis and the impacts of tropical cyclones.
Brisbane-based Greens MP Michael Berkman said he was also concerned about the extent of control given to private companies over national park land.
“The last thing I want to see is privatisation by stealth of our beautiful national parks, especially such an amazing part of the world that they’re looking at up there,” he said. “When we have private tourism operators in our national parks, they drop the can and walk away … which is not going to be good for us economically and it’s certainly not good for the environment and those national parks.”
