Love of FNQ drives leader
HOME IS TRULY WHERE THE HEART IS FOR TOURISM PIONEER RUSSELL BOSWELL, WHO ENJOYS SHARING THE DELIGHTS OF OUR REGION WITH VISITORS, AND MENTORING BUSINESS OPERATORS TOO
SAVANNAH WAY LTD, WAS CREATED IN 2007 AFTER THE SAVANNAH WAY — LINKING THE CAIRNS REGION WITH BROOME ACROSS THE NORTH OF AUSTRALIA — WAS DECLARED A DRIVE ROUTE.
RUSSELL Boswell’s passion for showcasing Northern Australia’s most beautiful locations is matched only by his love of helping others with their professional development.
A tourism pioneer, the Kewarra Beach father of two manages one of the country’s most exciting driving routes.
The Savannah Way links the Cairns region with Broome across the north of Australia.
Mr Boswell, and his wife Sam, manage Savannah Way Ltd, which was created in 2007 after the road was declared a drive route and given a name.
“Tropical North Queens- land is home and certainly where my heart is. Sharing our life here with visitors is one of the great joys of being in the tourism business,” he said.
They also help cultivate businesses, tour guides and operators based along the route through another organisation Savannah Guides, which operates professional development programs across the country.
“We do plenty of exciting work with lots of different tour guides and tour operators especially emerging indigenous tour operators, which is a really exciting part of the work that we do,” he said.
“Savannah Guides has been involved with traditional owners since its inception but in recent years many of those groups have had land determinations or have developed ran- ger groups that are now starting to explore tourism.”
This was an exciting step, Mr Boswell said, because “the authenticity and connection with the land” was a special experience for anyone who visited.
“We’re doing a lot of work with ranger groups especially around Australia to try and help them enter mainstream tourism and try and connect with other operators.”
Mr Boswell has been involved with Savannah Guides since the mid-1990s and has been a guide, board member and president before stepping into the manager’s role in 2008.
“It started in 1988 … with a group of cattlemen and indigenous rangers looking to create quality tourism in the Gulf of Savannah that has now expanded with extra opportunities that were found in other regions,” he said.
“But we all have the same ethos as high-quality tour guides to deliver the best stories and insight into the landscape for our guests.”
His motivation for helping businesses and individuals grow stemmed from his time as a history and English teacher,
THERE’S A LOT MORE TO TOURISM THESE DAYS THAN JUST GETTING SOMEONE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY, IT’S REALLY ABOUT CONNECTING WITH THEM ON A PERSONAL LEVEL RUSSELL BOSWELL
which was his first career.
“That gave me a bit of the inspiration to get involved with organisations like Savannah Guides, which is all about professional development,” he said.
“Watching individuals grow and watching businesses grow is really for me the most rewarding part of what I do.”
As a self-confessed “history buff”, Mr Boswell said he loved the stories linked to this particular corner of the world.
“I travel a bit overseas … but there’s nothing like coming home to the rich nature and deep cultural stories of Abor- iginal people and islanders in Australia,” he said. “It’s unique around the world.”
His multiple roles certainly keep him and Mrs Boswell busy travelling throughout the year.
He is just back from a field school at the Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberly region and in the process of planning a similar event at Mission Beach. Next month he will be in South Australia, then Tasmania in December.
“There’s a lot more to tourism these days than just getting someone a photo opportunity, it’s really about connecting with them on a personal level,” he said.
While domestic travellers seemed to dominate the market further away from interna- tional airports, Mr Boswell said there had been increasing numbers of international visitors coming to the regions.
“They’re also telling the story of Australia through their social media when they get home,” he said.
The digital world was a huge part of the future of tourism and Mr Boswell said he was working with both individual guides and operators to expand into that space.
“Just the capacity of video and imagery that can bring these places to life for people and encourage them to come to our part of the world,” he said.