Ecotourism Australia has warmly welcomed the Tourism in Protected Area initiative announced today by the Queensland Government.

(TRAVPR.COM) AUSTRALIA - May 26th, 2011 - Ecotourism Australia has warmly welcomed the Tourism in Protected Area initiative announced today by the Queensland Government.

“We believe that tourism can play an important role in educating the public on the importance of preserving and protecting our unique environment,” Ecotourism Australia CEO, Ms Kym Cheatham said.

“Many protected area managers around Australia and the world are recognising that helping the wider population understand how special these places are, is integral to their conservation. The more people know, the more they are likely to want to protect these areas for generations to come.”

“However, it is important to ensure the successful tourism operators have the credentials in nature based tourism and environmental sustainability to behave responsibly in these significant environmental locations” Ms Cheatham said.

“Ensuring the tourism operators are certified ecotourism operators is absolutely essential in the credibility of Queensland as a tourism destination that really values its environmental assets.”

“It is also essential in these disrupted times, that tourism operators who invest in developing, delivering and marketing their eco experiences, have the certainty of business that longer permits give them”, Ms Cheatham said.

“Ecotourism Australia looks forward to working with the Queensland Government to help build Queensland’s sustainable tourism reputation.”

For more information contact:
Kym Cheatham, Chief Executive Officer,
Ecotourism Australia
E: ceo@ecotourism.org.au, M: 0427 279 414 www.ecotourism.org.au
ABN 92 909 103 274

The Ecotourism Australia vision: "To be leaders in assisting ecotourism and other committed tourism operations to become environmentally sustainable, economically viable, and socially and culturally responsible".

Ecotourism Australia was formed in 1991 as an incorporated non-profit organisation, and is the peak national body for the ecotourism industry. Ecotourism Australia aims to grow and promote ecotourism and to assist tourism operators to become environmentally sustainable, economically viable and socially and culturally responsible.

Ecotourism Australia’s certification program ECO is a world first. It provides objective monitoring and auditing of organisations’ ecotourism claims and provides travel agents and tourists with an assurance of best practice ecological sustainability, natural area management and quality ecotourism experiences.

Ecotourism Australia has since added ROC (Respect Our Culture) Certification for Indigenous Tourism operators and Climate Action Australia Certification to help the tourism industry work towards a more sustainable future.

Both ECO and ROC programs have been recognised by the Australian Government under the National Tourism Accreditation Framework of meeting the standards to carry the TQUAL trademark indicating tourism quality. For more information go to: www.ret.gov.au

In 2008, Ecotourism Australia was awarded the prestigious World Travel and Tourism Council “Tourism for Tomorrow” Award for Conservation at the World Tourism Summit in recognition of Ecotourism Australia’s significant contribution to the conservation and preservation of natural heritage.

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