Sustainable Luxury Tourism, Indigenous Communities and Governance

Abstract

Sustainable luxury cannot only be understood as a vehicle for more respect for the environment and social development, but also as a synonym of culture, art and innovation of different nationalities and the maintenance of the legacy of local craftsmanship. The overall aim of this chapter is to explore the important intersection between traditional Aboriginal cultural and environmental management, knowledge and heritage, with the interest of sustainable luxury tourism in remote wilderness communities in Australia. Socially Sustainable luxury tourism could encompass important element of empowering and life-sustaining activities for remote Indigenous groups on a global scale based if informed by Indigenous cultural governance to facilitate sustainable tourism. We argue that such a development could bridge the divide between culture and nature explaining how and why management and protection of landscapes and eco-systems are integral to human heritage, culture and a new wave of sustainable luxury tourism. The Mardoowarra, the Fitzroy River and its life ways, in the vast Kimberley, northern Western Australia, is highlighted to exemplify both our meaning and concern.