Aboriginal domestic tourism leadership towards reconciliation in Australia

Abstract

The worldmaking possibilities of domestic tourism provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia with the potential to take leadership over the challenging interpersonal encounters necessary to the process of reconciliation. This proposition is drawn from a philosophical hermeneutic view of domestic tourism hosts and guests as always already bound by complex histories they cannot change. The paper demonstrates that tourism can enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to operate enterprises based on customary cultural law of neutral meeting places attuned to the difficult interpersonal challenges of Reconciliation. Neutral meeting places do not impose reconciliation onto domestic tourists, the intent is to instead exercise everyday humanity and compassion while enabling visitors to fulfil their travel desires. The findings suggest that visitors can become oriented to Aboriginal ways of being and stimulated to learn. As interactions progress, visitors can reach readiness to take up opportunities for genuine dialogue with Aboriginal hosts. Outcomes raised in this paper highlight that tourism can enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, as colonised people, to implement their cultural authority to take leadership over perplexing historical legacies woven through the fabric of a Western-dominated society conditioned by colonialism.