Global expectations are rising for the tourism industry to move beyond providing experiences to ensuring tourism is sustainable and contributing to the future of our natural environments and our communities.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland continues to demonstrate its leadership in sustainable and regenerative tourism by publishing our first annual Sustainability Report. Charting the extensive work we have undertaken in 2024 and identifying our priority actions for 2025 the report launches this week.
TTNQ leads an industry committed to a holistic approach to sustainable destination management with the goal of enabling every visitor to Tropical North Queensland to make a direct contribution to the region’s conservation. This is TTNQ’s Promise of Greater Good.
With the most accredited tourism experiences of any region in Australia, a commitment to First Nations Tourism, measurable reductions being made in the region’s carbon footprint and nature-positive actions through tourism, TTNQ has created and is delivering a brand promise that visitors: See Great, and Leave Greater.
Our destination has 84 operators and 191 experiences with Ecotourism or EarthCheck accreditation, which accounts for 21% of our total membership at TTNQ. This is the highest number of eco-accredited businesses in any region in Australia and one of the highest in the world. It is our aspiration to continue to grow this number as a unique selling point for our region, and as part of Our Promise of Greater Good.
Over the past two years TTNQ has led the local tourism industry to take considerable steps in prioritising environmental conservation. Through our Queensland Tourism Climate Action Plan activity, TTNQ developed a roadmap towards Net Zero and created data sets to establish reductions. The region is on-track to reach its Net Zero aspiration in 2050 by aiming to reduce the average carbon emissions per visitor from 55kg per day to 42kg in 2032 through the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel, emissions reductions by businesses through solar, reducing waste to landfill and transitioning to renewables.
We appointed a part-time Sustainability Coordinator in September 2023 to support members on their sustainability journey and established a Sustainability Leaders Cluster Group which has increased from 71 to 113 members in the past year.
At least 20% of TTNQ members are measuring and offsetting their impacts through local conservation programs that also engage visitors in the Leave Greater story. More than 30 members are partnering with Reforest and TTNQ in our Leave Greater offsets program restoring Mabi forest in 2026, with the most recent planting of 3150 trees planted just a couple of weeks ago. This planting alone will remove 637 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next 25 years and create a wildlife corridor for the endangered tree kangaroo on the Atherton Tablelands.
The TNQ First Nations Tourism Plan was launched in May 2023 recognising that all tourism is on Country, supporting Indigenous experiences to develop, and encouraging more visitors to connect with culture. Since then the number of Indigenous experiences in the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse has almost tripled from 12 to 32.
TTNQ uses media and marketing activities to help the public to understand challenges we can’t control, such as bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, and how they can be more involved in making a difference so they can See Great and Leave Greater.
Initiatives like the Guardian of the Reef program add value by rewarding consumers for learning about the Reef and its challenges. This program earned $7 million in accredited product sales last year with 55,000 people using the platform and 18,000 bookings. More than 60 global media articles worth $20 million reached 200 million people around the world.
The sustainability journey is a long one, but it is a journey that TTNQ and our members are committed to as we continue to promote our unique destination to the world with the promise that every visitor will not only see great, but they will also leave greater knowing they have contributed to the protection and management of World Heritage areas.
Mark Olsen
TTNQ CEO