Assessing the economic value and vulnerabi lity of nature-based tourism in the Ovens and Alpine area of North East Victoria A report by Victoria University, Melbourne for the Cooperative Research Centre for Bushfires and Natural Hazards. Acknowledgements This research has been contracted by the Bushfire Co-operative Research Centre (Bushfire CRC Ltd) for the Victorian Department of Environment, Land water and Planning (DELWP) Authors Joanne Pyke, Min Jiang, Terry de Lacy, Paul Whitelaw, Roger Jones. Contributors Steven Parker, Bruce Rasmussen, Peter Parbery, Alexandra Law, Faith Ong, Nella Hendriyetty and James Dredge. We also wish to acknowledge the contribution of Tourism Research Australia (TRA) for supplying relevant visitor survey data and undertaking analysis on that data. Photo credit Photography contribution: Salahuddin Ahmad (https://www.flickr.com/photos/neelelora/albums) © The State of Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning February 2015 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. You are free to re-use the work under that licence, on the condition that you credit the State of Victoria as author. The licence does not apply to any images, photographs or branding, including the Victorian Coat of Arms, the Victorian Government logo and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) logo. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Printed by <Insert Name of printer - Suburb> ISBN 978-1-76047-446-1 (Print) ISBN 978-1-76047-447-8 (pdf/online) Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. Accessibility If you would like to receive this publication in an alternative format, please telephone the DELWP Customer Service Centre on 136186, email [email protected], or via the National Relay Service on 133 677 www.relayservice.com.au. This document is also available on the internet at www.delwp.vic.gov.au. Contents Acronyms and key terms ................................................................................................................................ ii BFCRC - Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ iii Section One: Introduction, Background and Overview. .............................................................................. 1 1. 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 1. 2 Background .................................................................................................................................... 1 1. 3 The economic contribution of tourism ........................................................................................ 3 1. 4 The Project Team ........................................................................................................................... 4 1. 5 Approach and Method ................................................................................................................... 4 1. 6 Report Overview ............................................................................................................................ 5 Section Two: The value and character of tourism in Harrietville ............................................................... 6 2. 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 6 2. 2 National, state, regional and local tourism value ....................................................................... 6 2. 3 The Harrietville Visitor Survey ..................................................................................................... 7 2. 4 Mapping tourism value ............................................................................................................... 19 2. 5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 24 Section Three: Estimating the economic impacts of a bushfire on the Victorian Alpine Region ......... 25 3. 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 25 3. 2 Basic results and assumptions.................................................................................................. 25 3. 3 Impacts on Harrietville .............................................................................. .................................. 30 3. 4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 33 Section Four: Tourism Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment for Harrietville ................................. 34 4. 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 34 4. 2 Conceptual framework ................................................................................................................ 34 4. 3 Key findings of the vulnerability/resilience (V/R) assessment ............................................... 38 4. 4 Summary of findings ................................................................................................................... 49 Section Five: Implications for policy and strategies ................................................................................. 51 5. 1. Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 51 5. 2. Policy and Planning .................................................................................................................... 51 5. 3. Awareness raising and communications .................................................................................. 54 5. 4. Structural issues ......................................................................................................................... 55 5. 5. Business Management ................................................................................................................ 55 5. 6. Research ....................................................................................................................................... 55 5. 7. Concluding comments ................................................................................................................ 56 References ..................................................................................................................................................... 58 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................................. 61 Appendix 1 Map and time series of the progress of the 2013 fires ......................................................... 61 Appendix 2 Harrietville Visitor Survey ....................................................................................................... 62 Appendix 3 In-depth interviews schedule .................................................................................................. 66 Assessing the economic value and vulnerability of nature-based tourism in i the Ovens and Alpine area of North East Victoria Acronyms and key terms (I-O) modelling Input Output Model ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics CEMP Community Emergency Management Plan CFA Country Fire Authority Consumption Household expenditure, government expenditure and inventories of all final goods produced in the region DELWP Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning DSF Destination Sustainability Framework EMV Emergency Management Victoria Exports All final goods that are produced and not consumed in the region GRP Gross Regional Product GSP Gross State Product IVS International Visitor Survey IPPC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change LGA Local Government Areas NVIVO A qualitative data analysis (QDA) computer software package by QSR International NVS National Visitor Survey Output Output is used synonymously with ‘production’ and refers to the measure of gross revenue of goods and services SES State Emergency Service SLA Statistical Local Areas SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Tourism spend All tourist related spending on final goods produced in the region TRA Tourism Research Australia TSA Tourism Satellite Accounts V/R assessment Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment ii Assessing the economic value and vulnerability of nature-based tourism in the Ovens and Alpine area of North East Victoria BFCRC - Executive Summary Project background This report was prepared by Victoria University, Melbourne, for the Cooperative Research Centre for Bushfires Ltd. (BFCRC) with the aim to assess the economic value and vulnerability of the nature based tourism industry in the Ovens and Alpine area of North East Victoria. Many communities in this region, such as Bright, Harrietville and the Mt Hotham area, derive economic benefit through production, tourism