Environmental practices of tourism operators in the Daintree rainforest, North Queensland, Australia

Abstract

This paper reviews the environmental management practices presently adopted by accommodation providers, nature-based attractions and tour operators in Douglas Shire, North Queensland, where Wet Tropics World Heritage rainforest covers 80% of the Shire. Seventy-five tourism operators were surveyed in Douglas Shire by telephone, email survey or postal survey to explore their implementation of techniques for water conservation, energy conservation, liquid waste management, solid waste management, sustainable design and other sustainable practices. The environmental management practices were derived from Ecotourism Australia's Nature and Ecotourism Accreditation Program (NEAP), other leading tourism associations and previous studies investigating environmental management techniques in use at accommodation establishments (Firth & Hing, 2001; Carlson, Getz & Ali-Knight, 1998; Buckley & Araujo, 1997). Both ecotourism certified and non-certified tourism businesses were included in the study sample. The study found environmental management techniques that are both simple and cost effective are the most common practices adopted by tourism operations and these environmental measures are implemented for the reason of better environmental management and to comply with environmental or World Heritage legislation. Issues identified by tourism operators as impeding the implementation of environmental management techniques were the limited collection of recyclable items within the Shire, the high cost of installing and maintaining alternative energy and water practices and the existing environmental knowledge of some operators. Hence, this study suggests key areas where Shire Councils and tourism associations can assist nature-based tourism operators to improve their environmental practices.