Tourism Australia Launches New Website to Showcase Indigenous Tourism

The website showcases a selection of the Australia's best Indigenous experiences - including accommodation, attractions, tours, festivals and art centres. It also includes a directory profiling the current members of the Indigenous Tourism Champions Program (ITCP), a select group of Indigenous tourism suppliers satisfying stringent criteria to meet the needs of global trade and consumers.

Aden Ridgeway, Chairman of Tourism Australia's Indigenous Tourism Advisory Panel believes the new website will provide an invaluable resource for the trade, helping operators plan and book Indigenous tourism experiences, and add value to their Australian itineraries.

"There is considerable enthusiasm for participating in Indigenous experiences, offering the opportunity to gain an insight into the world's oldest continuing culture. We're working hard at Tourism Australia to improve awareness and perceptions amongst consumers of the quality and appeal of incredible Indigenous tourism experiences available in Australia," said Mr Ridgeway.

"At the end of the day, we want to stimulate greater demand for Indigenous experiences in Australia, and the new website will help us to do that by making it easier to include Indigenous experiences as a 'must do' component of Australian itineraries."

The website focuses on the experiences offered by the Indigenous Tourism Champions and provides information to assist trade with planning itineraries, pricing, how to book and where to go.  It also allows operators to sign up for a newsfeed to stay up to date with new Indigenous tourism product developments, product features, news and reviews. 

Other features of the site include:
- Indigenous Destinations: a guide to some of Australia's most exclusive locations, including pristine remote beaches, lush rainforests, hidden waterfalls, remote islands and rugged gorges providing exhilarating adventures such as hunting game fish, sea kayaking or biking and hiking through the wonderful outback wilderness;
- Sample itineraries: containing exciting culturally inspired itineraries to showcase some of Australia's best experiences; and
- Image gallery: containing a selection of images and videos, this can be downloaded to help promote Indigenous experiences in Australia. 

The Indigenous Tourism Champions Program is a collaborative program between Tourism Australia and Indigenous Business Australia in conjunction with the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the State and Territory Tourism Organisations.

Indigenous Tourism Champions Program (ITCP)

The ITCP looks to build a reputation of reliability and consistent quality in service delivery through selective marketing of product which has met stringent criteria. This ensures that the businesses being promoted are able to meet the needs and expectations of trade and the international market.