Cultural Tourism

Cultural tourism is concerned with a country’s culture which includes lifestyle, history, art and architecture. Australia’s Indigenous culture is one of the world’s most ancient living cultures and is an important part of the nation’s tourism experience. Indigenous Australian culture is a key international tourism driver, aiming to increase awareness and participation in experiences.

There are a large variety of Indigenous tourism experiences that tourists can partake in, such as:

Traditional Aboriginal food, or ‘Bush Tucker’, including nuts, seeds and fruits, and wild game such as emu, kangaroo and fish
Experience Aboriginal Art including rock art, bark painting, etchings and dot artwork

Watch traditional performances
Learn about traditional hunting methods, like the boomerang or spear
Listen to dreamtime stories
Hear the didgeridoo played

QTIC Indigenous Tourism Champions Network span

The QTIC Tourism Indigenous Employment Champions Network, supported by The Star Entertainment Group, aims to support tourism employers to engage and manage Indigenous employees. The project is the first of its kind in Queensland and aims to increase operators’ awareness of how to encourage and maintain increased participation of Indigenous Australians within the mainstream tourism industry. The Network is a group of tourism operators that have exhibited best practice in the recruitment and retention of Indigenous employment.

Together with the Champions, QTIC has developed a range of resources for tourism operators, presented at numerous industry conferences, facilitated industry forums, provided tourism industry career path information to Indigenous students and job seekers, and identified Indigenous employment placements within the industry. QTIC is continually expanding the Network and is actively seeking businesses and support agencies who would like to join us in pro-actively supporting the employment of Indigenous people within the mainstream tourism industry. Please contact the QTIC Business Development team on (07) 3236 1445 or email champions@qtic.com.au.

Facts About Indigenous Tourism in Australia

Aboriginal tourism experiences are worth $6.4 billion to the Australian economy annually. Approximately 12% of visitors to Australia participate in an Aboriginal cultural experience during their visit.

Visitors from UK, North America and China are most likely to participate in an Indigenous experience. QTIC operates a number of programs and projects in partnership with industry to promote and increase Indigenous representation within the tourism workforce.