Ecotourism and Indigenous Micro-Enterprise Formation in Northern Australia Opportunities and Constraints

Opportunities that will provide sustainable development for Indigenous Australians are investigated. Specifically, the micro-enterprise endeavors in ecotourism of an Indigenous clan in Ngukurr are presented, with attention to the planning process undertaken. The need for adequate business planning to achieve economic success is emphasized. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis was used to determine the feasibility for the Ngukurr people to venture into the field of tourism. Findings reveal that, while Indigenous enterprises have some competitive advantages, most of these enterprises do not possess the skills or financial resources to handle all the work successfully. A possible solution to this problem is the creation of joint ventures with companies that have prior experience in tourism. It is also concluded that the federal government's CDEP program could also support native businesses that are unable to procure financial backing from the usual sources. (SRY)