Red Hot Centre for Eco Tourism

The Northern Territory’s solar city, Alice Springs, will host the brightest sparks of the ecotourism industry at the Asia Pacific ecotourism conference, Global Eco, from 9-11 November. Australia’s Red Centre hosts a 3.1million centre which showcases the largest range of solar power technologies in the southern hemisphere.

Report on 4 November 2009

Australia’s Red Centre Solar City hosts Global Eco Tourism Conference  

The Northern Territory’s solar city, Alice Springs, will host the brightest sparks of the ecotourism industry at the Asia Pacific ecotourism conference, Global Eco, from 9-11 November.

As travellers continue to display their growing appetites for all things green, the conference program will introduce tourism operators and industry participants to new technologies, research, product partnerships and policies, and showcase the “full gamut” of challenges, and potential solutions, facing the industry.

The impressive list of speakers includes chief executive of Ecotourism Australia, Kym Cheatham; Federal Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett; president of non-profit organisation Sustainable Travel International, Brian T. Mullis; director of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Tourism and Recreation Group, Lisha Mulqueeny, and Frank Hubbard, director of corporate responsibility for IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group).

IHG includes the Crowne Plaza Alice Springs, which has set the green benchmark for the Australian business sector and hotel industry, by covering its roof in solar panels, creating the largest building-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) system in the southern hemisphere. This ground-breaking $3.3 million installation will reduce the hotel’s energy consumption by between 40 and 80 percent.

The most anticipated speaker will be Costas Christ, the global travel editor of National Geographic Adventure, and an internationally recognised expert on sustainable tourism. An ecotourism pioneer, he is also the lead author of Tourism and Biodiversity: Mapping Tourism’s Global Footprint and a contributing author in Wilderness: Earth’s Last Wild Places.

Alice Springs was deemed the most suitable location for the conference in light of the extensive ‘green’ initiatives that have been instigated by its local government and tourism operators, in an attempt to create the most sustainable tourist destination in Australia.

Tourism NT Environmental Tourism Development Officer Natasha Smith said that the Alice Springs businesses and community had shown tremendous initiative in making Alice Springs the solar capital of Australia.

“Tourists travelling to Alice Springs now have a fantastic opportunity to learn about solar technologies at the new, world class Desert Knowledge Solar Centre,” Ms Smith said.

“This 3.1million centre showcases the largest range of solar power technologies in the southern hemisphere, through commercial-scale installations.

Within the town of Alice Springs, the local community and businesses are also heavily engaged in embracing sustainable technologies. Since the Alice Solar City was launched in March 2008, 1121 households and 75 businesses have got on board to reduce their energy consumption.

Source: www.globaleco.com.au, www.alicesolarcity.com.au, www.dkasolarcentre.com.au and www.australiasoutback.com