Coping with locational advantage: The economic development potential of tourism at Seisia community, Cape York Peninsula

Abstract

This discussion paper focuses on economic issues raised in a consultancy report Coping with Locational Advantage: Seisia and the Tourism Industry commissioned by the Seisia Island Council and undertaken in November 1994. The consultancy was undertaken by Australian Outback Tourism Developments Pty Ltd and focused on the economic impact of tourism on the Seisia community located on Cape York Peninsula. Seisia is a Torres Strait Islander community of just over 100 people currently visited by nearly 15,000 tourists per annum. The community is strategically located on the northern coast of Cape York Peninsula adjacent to the sub-region's only deep-water harbour and near the tip of Cape York. In recent years, Seisia has increasingly developed tourism infrastructure to meet industry needs. This paper assesses the current economic impact of tourism on the Seisia community and then examines a range of wider economic development and policy issues. The central question raised is what is the potential for tourism to act as the leading sector of economic development for Seisia. Every attempt is made to rigorously address this question and to move beyond the particularities of the Seisia case to general policy issues.