Tourism opens door to success
TJAPUKAI PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH FOR LOCAL TRADITIONAL OWNERS BY EMPLOYING DJABUGAY PEOPLE WHEREVER POSSIBLE.
SHIRLEY HOLLINGSWORTH INDIGENOUS culture was given centre stage at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast demonstrating what a high value it has for Queensland tourism.
With a history dating back some 50,000 years, Aboriginal culture is the world’s oldest living culture and has been passed down over many generations through stories, song, dance and art.
Today, those stories, songs, dances and art are educating the world about an ancient culture as well as providing business and employment opportunities for traditional owners.
Djabugay people, the people of the World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics rainforest between Cairns and Kuranda, were among the first to tell their story through an Aboriginal tourism business.
Tjapukai was founded Kuranda in 1987.
People around the world discovered how to “shake a leg” by joining in performances drawn from Djabugay corroborees, learnt how to make fire without a matchstick and were enthralled by the haunting sounds of the didgeridoo.
Through Tjapukai, Aboriginal culture was successfully incorporated into a tourism product that fostered greater understanding of the culture, history and traditions of Australia’s indigenous people. in
This fledgling tourism operation provided employment for the Djabugay people and gave the performers immense pride to be sharing their culture with people from around the world.
Tjapukai provides opportunities for economic growth for local traditional owners by employing Djabugay people wherever possible.
Currently 70, per cent of our staff are indigenous people and half of those identify as Djabugay.
In the past month, we have employed a young Djabugay woman full time in the food and beverage department after she did work experience with the business, three indigenous people have been given casual roles and a fifth indigenous person has been hired as a part-time member of the reservations team.
Tjapukai champions a strong commitment to locally made and produced goods and services. This includes helping our staff merchandise their art.
This directly benefits the Djabugay people whose art is sold in the retail gallery and other Australian traditional owners, particularly from neighbouring language groups, whose work is also sold.
In 2016-17, more than $4.3 million was injected into the local Aboriginal community through wages, royalties, and the commissioning and purchasing of art and artefacts.
Tjapukai works closely with the traditional owners through Buda: Dji, the commercial arm of the Djabugay Tribal Aboriginal Corporation.
The aspirations of the traditional owners are for financial independence without the ongoing contribution of government. The commercial arrangements between the community and Tjapukai go a long way towards creating that independence.
This engagement with the Djabugay people and their culture ensures Tjapukai stands out as a business committed to excellence in indigenous tourism.
This was recognised through our 2017 Queensland Tourism Award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tourism. Shirley Hollingsworth is the deputy general manager of Tjapukai and a Djabugay woman.