Ecotourism Australia

Ecotourism Australia Ecotourism Australia is a non-profit organisation and is the peak national body for the ecotourism industry.

Ecotourism Australia is a non-government, not-for-profit, peak body that promotes and supports the ecotourism industry in Australia through building capacity and actively promoting sustainable tourism operations and systems. We promote sustainable travel and certified ecotourism experiences available around Australia.

The Global Sustainable Tourism Summit 2026 is a wrap, and what a two days it has been.Ecotourism Australia is so proud t...
04/06/2026

The Global Sustainable Tourism Summit 2026 is a wrap, and what a two days it has been.

Ecotourism Australia is so proud to have brought together sustainability changemakers, innovators and industry leaders from across Australia and beyond for two days of ideas, collaboration and real impact here on the Gold Coast. The level of engagement from our speakers, facilitators, delegates and team was everything we hoped for and more.

The afternoon sessions brought the perfect close to an extraordinary conference.

🌡️ BUILDING CLIMATE RESILIENT VISITOR ECONOMIES
Simone Novello, Blue Mountains City Council | Fiona Merida, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority | Daniel Walsh, Reforest | Penny Spoelder, TRC Tourism | Facilitated by Nat Burke, WWF Australia
The question is no longer how we recover from the next climate event. It is how we operate in a hotter, more unpredictable world. The challenge is not finding solutions — it is creating the enabling environments for those solutions to take hold. Collective action, coalition building and meeting people where they are. That is how we get this done.

🌊 SOLVING THE SINGLE USE PLASTIC CRISIS
Christina Leala-Gale, Pacific Tourism Organisation
By 2035, the Pacific Tourism Organisation wants to see a completely plastic free Pacific tourism industry. The roadmap is clear - refuse, reduce, replace. High level bans fail without industry language. The easiest plastic to remove is what guests see. The hardest is buried in supply chains. Start anyway.

💚 TURNING PURPOSE INTO PROFIT AND PROFIT INTO PURPOSE
Amy Gash, Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort | Paul McGrath, YHA | Facilitated by Daniel Gschwind, Griffith University
Two operators who have built their entire businesses around one question: how do we leave this place better than we found it? At Lady Elliot Island, Amy put it simply — every dollar has a conversation about where it goes and the impact it has. At YHA, profit goes straight back into the experiences and communities they serve. Purpose and profit are not competing forces. They never were.

Our CEO Elissa Keenan closed out the conference with some beautiful words that left the whole room feeling the weight and the wonder of what we had all shared together. Our team could not be prouder of how it all came together.

To every speaker, facilitator, delegate, sponsor and team member - thank you!! The conversations, the questions and the genuine care in the room over these two days has been something special.

A huge congratulations to Anna from Noosa Biosphere, the winner of our Lady Elliot Island prize draw. Enjoy every single moment! 🐠🌴

For those joining us tomorrow for the Destination Immersion Program, we cannot wait for one final day together on the Gold Coast. 🌿

Watch this space - so much more content, insights and highlights from GSTS26 still to come.

Until next time.

Day 2 of GSTS26 and the morning has left us genuinely inspired🌿If Day 1 was about data and systems, Day 2 has been about...
04/06/2026

Day 2 of GSTS26 and the morning has left us genuinely inspired🌿

If Day 1 was about data and systems, Day 2 has been about people, story and soul. Here is what our morning looked like:

🌍 CULTURE HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
Adam McEwan, Hero Experiences
The next generation of sustainable tourism will not be built by importing experiences. It will be built by uncovering them. Adam challenged us to look again at what locals take for granted - because what is ordinary to you is often extraordinary to someone else. Ask. Design. Protect. Remember. Look again.

📱 WHAT ARE TRAVELLERS LOOKING FOR IN SUSTAINABILITY?
Emma-Louise Padillo, Booking.com
83% of travellers want to travel more sustainably. But 41% still don't trust options labelled as sustainable. The gap between intention and action is real - and the industry's job is to close it with clear communication, trusted certification and experiences that make sustainable choices easy.

🤝 FURTHERING INDIGENOUS TOURISM
Fraser Nai, Strait Experience | Heidi Quatro, Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre | Soraya Rankine, SAATOC | Facilitated by Robert Taylor, WAITOC
This is not an Indigenous story. It is an Australian story. Demand for First Nations experiences is growing faster than the sector can meet it. The foundations of authentic partnership are simple: relationship, respect and reciprocity. As Fraser put it: trust is not just a value - it is an economic mobiliser.

♿ HOW CAN AUSTRALIA BE A LEADING ACCESSIBLE TOURISM DESTINATION?
Curtis McGrath OAM, Paralympics Australia | Phil Wishart, Paralympics Australia
21.4% of Australians live with disability. Accessible tourism is not a niche - it is one of the biggest opportunities in our industry. Universal design means designing for everyone, everywhere, all the time. Good design is felt, not noticed. And with Brisbane 2032 on the horizon, the moment to act is now.

🌿 ECOTOURISM TO PROTECT WILDLIFE — LESSONS FROM BORNEO
Timothy Teo, Borneo Eco Tours
Timothy closed the morning on the most infectious, energising note. 30 years of ecotourism in the Borneo rainforest distilled into one powerful idea - ecotourism is not a classification or a trend. It is a statement of intent. And sustainability is not about doing less harm. It is about doing more good.

Ecotourism is the tip of the spear. Our job is to lead.

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What a morning. Heading into lunch feeling full of ideas, full of purpose and very glad to be in this room with this community. 🙌

What an evening to round out Day 1 🥂The JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort and Spa was a stunning backdrop for a night of gre...
03/06/2026

What an evening to round out Day 1 🥂

The JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort and Spa was a stunning backdrop for a night of great company and even better conversation. Delegates mingling, the energy of the day carrying through, and the kind of genuine connection that reminds you why in-person events matter so much.

We were honoured to have Mayor Tom Tate, City of Gold Coast, welcome our delegates for the evening. And the night had a few extra special moments - our CEO Elissa Keenan and Board Chair Nat Burke presented some very exciting awards. Stay tuned on our socials for the official announcements. 👀

To everyone who joined us tonight, thank you. Day 1 of GSTS26 is one for the books.

See you bright and early tomorrow. 🌿

And that is a wrap on Day 1 of GSTS26. What a day. 🌿The questions were sharp, the conversations were warm and this commu...
03/06/2026

And that is a wrap on Day 1 of GSTS26. What a day. 🌿

The questions were sharp, the conversations were warm and this community showed up in the best way.

💪 Green skills are about practical action, not just knowledge. Make the impact visible, build it from the ground up, and keep it fun.

🌏 Nature is worth $138 billion to the Australian economy. Federal investment sits at 0.1% of the budget. The ask is 1%. Protecting nature and growing tourism are the same priority.

♻️ Attach stories to rules so they stick. Make sustainability as normal as hotel Wi-Fi. And ecotourism does not need to be a luxury product to be a good one.

We loved seeing delegates share lunch together and take note of the sustainability initiatives right here at the Mercure. 🍽️

To every delegate who brought their energy and curiosity today, thank you!!! Truly special first day.

Tonight's cocktail function awaits. See you there. 🥂

We have just broken for lunch on Day 1 of the Global Sustainable Tourism Summit 2026 and what a morning it has been. 🌿Af...
03/06/2026

We have just broken for lunch on Day 1 of the Global Sustainable Tourism Summit 2026 and what a morning it has been. 🌿

After a warm welcome from our MC Victoria Carthew and opening address from Ecotourism Australia CEO Elissa Keenan, we heard a video address from Senator the Hon Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism. But first, we were grounded in the most beautiful way - a Welcome to Country and sound bath from Lann Levinge, a Kombumerri man from the Gold Coast, followed by a 10 minute meditation to set our intentions for the days ahead.

The morning was framed perfectly by a quote from Sir David Attenborough:
"No one will protect what they don't care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced."

Here is what our morning looked like:

🌏 GREEN IS OUR GOLD
Lauren Caverley, Tourism Australia
Brand new consumer data shared for the very first time today:
🌱 77% of travellers say sustainability is important in their everyday life
🌱 70% say travelling sustainably on holiday matters to them
🌱 55% are willing to pay more for sustainable experiences
🌱 93% of tourism businesses have now embedded sustainability into their operations

🚵🏼LESSONS FROM SLOVENIA
Jana Apih, GoodPlace
Sustainable tourism done right creates shared value for tourists, locals, nature, businesses and future generations.
Jana said it best:
"Tourism promises to fulfil dreams and create memories."
"Tourism enters and occupies the space of locals."

🏙️ RETHINKING A GLOBAL DESTINATION THROUGH NATURE
Tim Baker, CEO, City of Gold Coast
51% green space, 5 national parks, a world heritage area - and a city putting real investment behind activating all of it. Great ideas only matter if you act on them.

📋 PREPARING FOR SUSTAINABILITY SCRUTINY
Elissa Keenan, Ecotourism Australia and Louise Freckelton, Highfield Farm & Kestrel Nest EcoHut
The EU's Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive comes into effect 27 September 2026. If you make an environmental claim, you need to be able to prove it. For EA certified operators, that credibility already exists. Louise's message to operators was simple: if sustainability is at the heart of everything you do, it should be at the heart of everything you say.

✈️ TURNING SUSTAINABILITY SIGNALS INTO BETTER TRAVEL CHOICES
Aromica Bhattacharya, Travalyst
People want to make better choices - they just need the right information.
"Certifications are an important — and currently the only — tool for communicating sustainability information with the consumer on platforms in a reliable and compliant way."

📊 UNDERSTANDING OUR INFLUENCE
Garrett Tyler-Parker, Tai Lennon, Katharine Hopper, Dana Ronan, facilitated by Nadine Schramm
Sustainability reporting needs to stop being seen as a compliance task and start being seen as a business transformation tool. Social impact is still a blind spot.

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A huge morning. So much more to come this afternoon. 🙌

Day 1 of GSTS26 is officially underway!Our team is at the registration desk - ready and excited to welcome delegates fro...
02/06/2026

Day 1 of GSTS26 is officially underway!

Our team is at the registration desk - ready and excited to welcome delegates from across Australia and the world for an inspiring few days of conversations, collaboration and action toward a more sustainable future for tourism.

A huge thank you to everyone who has helped bring the Global Sustainable Tourism Summit to life - we can’t wait to share what’s ahead.

Let the summit begin! 🌿

What a night to kick things off! 🥂We had the best time welcoming our delegates, speakers and industry leaders to the Glo...
02/06/2026

What a night to kick things off! 🥂

We had the best time welcoming our delegates, speakers and industry leaders to the Global Sustainable Tourism Summit 2026 Welcome Function this evening at the Mercure Gold Coast Resort. Poolside, with live music, great food and so many good conversations already happening, it really does set the tone for what's ahead.

We have two incredible days together starting tomorrow, and our team cannot wait. GSTS26 is officially underway!

Thank you to everyone who joined us tonight. See you bright and early! ☀️

This National Reconciliation Week, we reflect on the 2026 theme, All In.Reconciliation is not a single action or moment ...
27/05/2026

This National Reconciliation Week, we reflect on the 2026 theme, All In.

Reconciliation is not a single action or moment in time. It is an ongoing commitment to listening, learning, respecting and walking together.

At Ecotourism Australia, we recognise the deep and enduring connection First Nations peoples have to land and sea Country, culture and community - and the important role tourism plays in creating understanding, sharing stories and supporting cultural and economic participation and heritage.

We also recognise that meaningful reconciliation requires more than acknowledgement. It requires action, relationships and a willingness to keep learning.

As an organisation connected to nature, place and people across Australia, we remain committed to supporting respectful engagement with Traditional Owners, celebrating First Nations knowledge and experiences, and contributing to a more inclusive and connected future.

This week, and every week, reconciliation is something we must all be part of. All In.

This is your FINAL chance to secure tickets to the Global Sustainable Tourism Summit before registrations officially clo...
25/05/2026

This is your FINAL chance to secure tickets to the Global Sustainable Tourism Summit before registrations officially close at 5pm today!

This year’s Summit brings together one of our most exciting and diverse speaker lineups yet, featuring global thought leaders, industry pioneers, tourism operators, researchers, destination managers and changemakers who are driving the future of sustainable tourism. From powerful storytelling and real-world case studies to practical tools and actionable insights, every session has been designed to help tourism businesses, destinations and industry leaders turn ambition into meaningful action.

Whether you’re a tourism operator, local council, destination manager, state or territory tourism organisation, the Summit is your opportunity to connect with passionate people who are shaping the future of tourism across Australia and beyond.

Secure your place now before registrations officially close this afternoon!

But you’ll have to be quick as only 10 TICKETS remain: https://events.humanitix.com/global-sustainable-tourism-summit-2026

As Australia prepares to welcome the world for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the opportunity to shape ...
21/05/2026

As Australia prepares to welcome the world for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the opportunity to shape a more accessible and inclusive tourism industry has never been greater.

At the Global Sustainable Tourism Summit, Paralympian and accessibility advocate Curtis McGrath will join Phil Wishart for an important conversation exploring how tourism operators, destinations and communities can help position Australia as a leading accessible tourism destination. From universal design principles to practical changes that create more inclusive visitor experiences, this session will challenge the industry to think bigger about what accessibility can look like, and the lasting legacy we can create well beyond 2032.

⏰ With only 4 DAYS left to secure your ticket, now is the time to be part of the conversation shaping the future of accessible tourism in Australia!

Grab your tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/global-sustainable-tourism-summit-2026

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816/3 Parkland Boulevard
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