Tourism Australia’s new indigenous tourism website showcases a selection of the country’s best Indigenous experiences – including accommodation, attractions, tours, festivals and art centres.

 It also includes a directory profiling the current members of the Indigenous Tourism Champions Program (ITCP), a select group of Indigenous tourism suppliers satisfying stringent criteria to meet the needs of global trade and consumers.

The site is designed to provide a resource for the trade, helping operators plan and book Indigenous tourism experiences, and add value to their Australian itineraries.

“There is considerable enthusiasm for participating in Indigenous experiences, offering the opportunity to gain an insight into the world’s oldest continuing culture,” said Aden Ridgeway, chairman of Tourism Australia’s Indigenous Tourism Advisory Panel.

“We’re working hard at Tourism Australia to improve awareness and perceptions amongst consumers of the quality and appeal of incredible Indigenous tourism experiences available in Australia,” said Ridgeway.

“At the end of the day, we want to stimulate greater demand for Indigenous experiences in Australia, and the new website will help us to do that by making it easier to include Indigenous experiences as a ‘must do’ component of Australian itineraries.”

The website focuses on the experiences offered by the Indigenous Tourism Champions and provides information to assist trade with planning itineraries, pricing, how to book and where to go. It also allows operators to sign up for a newsfeed to stay up to date with new Indigenous tourism product developments, product features, news and reviews.

Other features of the site include sample itineraries, image and video gallery, a guide to indigenous destinations and information on the Indigenous Tourism Champions Program (ITCP). The ITCP uses a stringent set of selection criteria to identify and market ‘Champion’ Indigenous tourism product.