Taking steps to a new tourism path I

REMEMBER being told once that if you’re planning on presenting your boss with a problem, you’d get a far better reception if you also presented them with a solution.

Regulars would know I tend to use this space to not only make observations but to offer suggestions, and it’s a real pleasure when readers email me theirs, like the ripper I recently received from Allen Franklin.

With our community crying out to solve the youth crime issue with solutions that benefit all involved, I reckon Allen is on to a winner.

He wrote about the Camino de Santiago, which I was aware of thanks to our Townsville Bulletin icons who also happen to be keen walkers, Ando and Pricey.

This walking trail through southern Europe takes about eight days to complete and drew a record 350,000 visitors last year.

Allan reckons we should construct a set of trails that go all over the country that explore Indigenous culture.

He suggested they be built gradually, starting in Herbert, but eventually stretch from Townsville to Cape York, creating employment for people from the various communities who’d provide trails, services and ecotourism opportunities along the way.

Allan suggested at-risk kids could be sent to help work on remote parts of the track, “and given a chance to do something constructive, instead of the current strategies that seem pointless and achieve very little — hopefully over time they would become inspired with the potential of what they are involved in”.

We know many of these kids are disconnected from society and have lost their culture, so would being involved in something constructive that is part of their heritage not only provide a purpose, but instil pride, and foster involvement with the community?

Local tradespeople, labourers, guides and service providers would also be required, and with campuses in Townsville and Cairns, Allan suggests a diploma or degree in Indigenous eco-tourism could be offered at JCU.

It is the year of Indigenous tourism, but while the ALP has pledged $60m for Queensland’s Protected Area Strategy, doubling the number of Indigenous land and sea rangers in national parks to 200, and the federal government pledging $1.5m to join up Magnetic Island walking trails, Bindal elder and Indigenous land and sea ranger Eddie Smallwood said only this week that there is “no indigenous tourism between Rockhampton and Cairns”.

None!

Domestic tourism has limitless potential. Only this week Townsville snagged a spot as one of only three Australian locations to make this year’s top 100 sustainable destinations in the world.

Imagine the potential of Indigenous cultural experiences?

The walking trail could be an ongoing initiative that would grow year by year, and with fears that towns could be bypassed with the proposed widening of the Bruce Highway, walkers doing the “Bindal Trail” could not only prove a salvation for small townships, but potentially provide opportunities for new communities to emerge.

Bail houses, on-country programs, incarceration; these options have not only failed to solve our crime problem, but offer no benefit to the general community.

Isn’t an idea that builds something worthwhile for everybody involved an idea worth pursuing?

THE WALKING TRAIL COULD BE AN ONGOING INITIATIVE THAT WOULD GROW YEAR BY YEAR, AND WITH FEARS THAT TOWNS COULD BE BYPASSED WITH THE PROPOSED WIDENING OF THE BRUCE HIGHWAY, WALKERS DOING THE ‘BINDAL TRAIL’ COULD NOT ONLY PROVE A SALVATION FOR SMALL TOWNSHIPS, BUT POTENTIALLY PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW COMMUNITIES TO EMERGE.