Tourism in the Torres Strait

I was going to post the first photo below and make a chirpy comment about what a successful charter Tony had on Sunday, even though it almost didn't happen thanks to crappy weather.
     Then I thought, Cate, your last ten or so posts have been so positive and uplifting, where has your cynical and critical (constructively so) character gone?  And I have acquired another bout of tonsilitis and not yet started antibiotics.  I am not too happy.  
     So I decided to frame this post as an easy-to-read, critical look at why tourism in the Torres Strait has struggled and may not take off.  Here goes.

The Torres Strait is synonymous with pristine sea, untouched tropical islands and deserted beaches.  This is manna to tour operators and agencies. 

One happy client.  However, this trip was scheduled for Thursday then cancelled due to wind and rain.  By Sunday, the conditions were favourable for the trip.

     There are good reasons the beaches are deserted.

     2013 was the eleventh year of operation of Tony’s Island Adventures, Tony’s fishing and cruising charter.  We did a lot of research prior to establishing TIA to ensure our small business success.  At the time, 90% of small business failed within two years.  We felt it was a done dinner because there was no other small-scale, reasonably priced charter operated by an Islander (or anyone).  In fact, we were so sure of TIA’s success, we sold our grass cutting business on April Fools’ day, 2003, a month before commencing TIA.  Fortune or folly?

     The cruel realities of operating a fishing charter hit in the first year.  We were forced to cancel trips because of strong wind, normal during the dry, tourist season from May to October.  I went crazy trying to promote TIA in fishing magazines in addition to a squillion laminated posters that graced the notice boards of TI and Seisia.  In 2004, we had an eight-page spread by Steve Starling, then Australia’s most popular fishing journo in Modern Fishing, the country’s premiere fishing publication.  We did not receive one phone call or email enquiry.

     Interestingly, our rate of trips was consistent from year to year, regardless of the effort I put into promotion.

     We expected to gain some business from the thousands of tourists who drive up Cape York to the Tip and come across on Peddells.  There was one problem.  Most of these 4WD visitors are on a schedule and the day trip from Seisia to TI was factored in before they left Bendigo or Bermagui (Victoria and NSW being the starting place of about 90% of the day trippers according to research presented at the tourism steering committee established on TI in 2008, of which I was involved).

     We attempted to create package tours for three- and five-night stays.  I contacted the hotels to negotiate favourable rates.

     “Why would we offer you a discount rate,” said one manager, “for fishing package deals when we are at capacity all the time.”

     QANTASLink kindly offered a tour operators’ fare from Cairns to Horn Island at 75% of the full-economy rate, but it was still $630 at the time, a prohibitive amount when clients need to get to Cairns in the first place.

     The harsh realities of operating a business in a very remote area hit home.

     In 2004, I was bemoaning the wind to a fishing mate of Tony’s after cancelling another fishing charter due to strong wind. 

     He looked around, pointed and said, “If tourism was ever going to take off in the Torres Strait, those islands would be dotted with high rises.”

     I was reminded that operating a fishing charter in an area where the wind blows at 25 knots for nine months of the year was problematic.  

     And don’t forget the fast currents on the full and new moon.  The water flows at speeds of up to 9 knots in the middle of the year, the tourist season, making fishing impossible.  Then factor in the most number of strong wind warnings for the year between May and September when the wind rages between 26 and 33 knots.  I remember 2006.  For six weeks the wind blew in excess of 30 knots, sometimes reaching 40 knots. 

     This adds up to a lot of cancelled trips such that we don’t even take deposits anymore.

     To keep the wolves from the door, I went back to work as a lawyer and later Tony completed his Master 5 and MED3 and began work as a skipper.

     In 2005, the Torres Strait Regional Authority began investing heavily in tourism in the Torres Strait, particularly the luxury resort at Poruma, now defunct.  Travel writers and film crews descended on TI and Tony featured in a range of shows such as Fishing Australia, Creek to Coast and Queensland Weekender and on the pages of travel magazines.  The only promotion that resulted in one three-day trip was the feature in Fishing Australia.

     Interestingly, there was no base-line data recorded prior to the investment in tourism promotion and no assessment of the success or failure of the efforts.

The sun sets on tourism in the Torres Strait

     In 2008 a consultant was engaged to prepare a report about tourism in the Torres Strait.  A trip with Tony was arranged, but we cancelled on the morning when a strong wind warning was announced on the BOM.

     “We’re not going far,” said the consultant. “Surely we can go.” 

     “It’s blowing 27 knots and you’ll get wet and cold,” I said and then explained to him how the wind and the current can make dinghy travel dangerous.

     “Nobody told me about the wind,” he said through gritted teeth.

     This was a complaint we heard again and again.  Not to mention the one about there being little to do on TI.

     Visits to the Torres Strait Heritage Museum and taking an In Their Steps tour on Horn Island, Gab Titui Cultural Centre on TI, Friday Island pearl farm and a stroll up town and around TI cannot fill a week’s holiday.

     And to think that each year I received a phone or email from people interested in establishing a dive operation or a eco-resort because, they claimed, "there isn’t anything like that in the Torres Strait!"

     In 2008, weeks before the fifth anniversary of Tony’s Island Adventures, Tony and I were scratching our heads.  We’d surrendered to the fact that a fishing charter is not able to bring in a full-time income.

     “There has to be something,” I said, “that’s busy during the wet season when the fishing charters are slow and slow during the dry season when the fishing charter is busy.”

     “Grass cutting,” said Tony, a quick as a whip.  “Let’s start up the Gadin Ninja again.”

     Good fortune was shining on us.  Two days later I learned the purchasers of our business back in 2003 had left TI that week, unable to secure accommodation for their family.

     On 1 April, 2008 we re-established Gadin Ninja and added tree trimming and lopping.        We built up the business and sold it on 1 April, 2013, the date having escaped us when we signed the contract on 5 February.

     Tony continues to do his fishing charters and all clients are non-tourists.  Clients are either visiting public servants who finish work a day early or stay for the weekend or are residents who don’t own boats and have family visiting.

     I have observed the pressure on Indigenous people in remote areas to establish tourist operations as if this will be the panacea for welfare dependence and economic freedom.       Last year I was chatting with a consultant following a report into tourism on Cape York and Torres Strait.

     “The lights are out on Cape York tourism,” he said.

     “Well, there is no electricity in the Torres Strait,” I replied. And I thought, That was not a bad thing.

     Operating any business requires a very solid foundation in literacy and numeracy which, we know, many Indigenous people in remote areas lack due to the difficulty of accessing quality education. 

     Business operators also require a solid business acumen which Tony and I lack.  What has helped us is the fact we are the only operators of a business of this kind and taking people fishing is Tony’s passion.  My passion is Tony and I would do anything for him that helps him achieve his passion even though I thorough despise the paperwork and data entry.

     So from where I am sitting, things on the Torres Strait tourism front are no different to what they were 11 years ago when we started researching the feasibility of a fishing charter. No doubt, the state and federal governments will soon release another round of funding to establish tourism-based ventures in remote Indigenous communities.  Another public servant will be employed by a relevant government agency to achieve this.  The wheel will be reinvented, yet the sea will remain pristine, the tropical islands untouched and the beaches deserted.