The Bigger They Are, the Harder They Fall! Sustainable Tourism Planning at Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Site, Australia

Abstract

The Australian National Heritage and Tourism Thematic Interpretation Framework (NHTTIF) is an interpretive framework methodology that can be used to develop an enhanced visitor experience by integrating heritage more effectively in tourism. It was developed for the Australian Department for the Environment and Heritage in response to the ‘telling the story’ opportunity identified by the National Tourism and Heritage Taskforce. The NHTTIF is used to identify a site-specific interpretive theme through to a national or international interpretive theme, as part of an interconnected web of ‘stories’ about Australia. Sites used during the development of the NHTTIF included the World Heritage Australian Fossil Mammal Site at Naracoorte, South Australia, the Port Arthur Historic Site in Tasmania and the Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Victoria. This paper demonstrates the development and application of the NHTTIF at the Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Site, with a site-specific story theme of ‘the bigger they are, the harder they fall!’, referring to the fossilised extinct Australian mega-fauna. Other themes are demonstrated at a local, regional, state, and national level with implications at the international level as a World Heritage Site. The integration of heritage more effectively in tourism planning, development and management, and the interpretation of heritage sites fosters an understanding and appreciation of heritage, resulting in conservation.