The Bundaberg Region’s eco-tourism credentials are being highlighted on the national stage among industry leaders.
The region is actively working towards eco destination certification and was recently named in the top 100 sustainable destinations in the world.
Continuing the positive momentum, representatives from Bundaberg Tourism and Bundaberg Regional Council attended the recent ECO Think | Destination Forum.
The forum allowed leading destinations from around Australia to contribute to the national strategy to develop a more sustainable approach to destination management and tourism.
It was Ecotourism Australia’s (EA) first major event focused solely on destinations, building on the organisation’s growing work with councils and regions across Australia through its ECO Destination Certification program.
Acting Mayor Bill Trevor said achieving Eco Destination certification was one of Bundaberg Regional Council’s advocacy priorities.
“Ecotourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in global tourism and we’re working with local industry to ensure our region is ready to take advantage of the opportunities this presents,” Cr Trevor said.
“Our economy will benefit as we take a piece of the pie in this multi-million dollar industry, our environment will benefit as we work together to actively achieve and promote sustainability and our community will benefit because we can celebrate our natural assets with pride.
“It’s fantastic to take opportunities like these forums to promote our ambitions and what we’re already achieving in this field.”
The three day eco destination forum focused on knowledge sharing between destinations which are ECO Destination Certified or working towards certification and ECO Certified local tourism operators to create a vision for the certification program into the future.
Bundaberg Tourism Trade and Industry Development Executive Loni Hammond said the tourism industry had an opportunity to lead the way in taking care of the natural environment.
“To be invited to be a part of the discussion on how to make that happen is an amazing opportunity for our destination,” Loni said.
“We have engaged in robust and positive conversations with our peers, and we are bringing back great tools and learnings from others’ experiences to continue to help our community and our visitors to continue being actively involved in protecting our natural areas in our region.”
Bundaberg Tourism CEO Katherine Reid said as international borders reopened, the consumer demand for sustainable, quality nature-based visitor experiences continued to grow.
“Our tourism industry and wider community have proven time and again our commitment to ensuring the long-term health and preservation of the environment we live in, for our future generations and our visitors.
“Bundaberg Tourism has been working closely with Council in support of the ECO Destination Certification since the commencement of the project in 2020.
“It is an enormous undertaking that requires collaboration across all sectors of the region, and we are proud to be representing a tourism industry that is leading by example in owning our role as custodians of the environment in which we live.”
Anyone interested in learning more about Council’s Eco Destination certification application or would like to learn more about its incentive scheme for Bundaberg Region operators looking to become certified can head to the project page.
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