Our tourism pathways

Tools to help you

Connecting cultural way with business way

Just like our cultural knowledge grows and matures over time until we become an Elder, businesses do the same. We start with baby steps, learning about our identity and slowly, with more knowledge, we become an expert or an Elder who can mentor others. Aboriginal cultural tourism is about successfully understanding and connecting both of these life cycles, so we are honouring and respecting our cultural way as we grow our business. Culture is central and at the heart of everything that we do.

Business models

Business structure

You might choose to be a small business run by one person, a family business or a large company with many employees. Your Aboriginal corporation or association may decide to offer tourism product and services or you might find a good existing tour business to partner with.

Operation

Your business may only operate seasonally with small groups of visitors and fit in with family, personal and cultural obligations. Or your business could be open everyday, 365 days a year welcoming many visitors from all over the world.

To find the right business and operations structure for you, it’s best to seek professional and legal advice. For more details on the different types of business and operational structures and the steps towards building these visit Business structures | business.gov.au

Market, trade and export ready

Whether you want to be a small visitor ready business or an export ready business sold around the world, it is up to you to choose the right fit. To learn more about the essentials for your business visit the Tourism Business Support Guide.

You want to start welcoming visitors. Before you can get started there are some business essentials you need to complete. This includes:

Legal requirements and approvals (cultural way and business way)

Product to sell

Money and operational management

Ways for people to find and buy your product (marketing, website, social media).

Once you are visitor ready and welcoming visitors you may choose to grow your business. This requires:

Business and product to have regular availability

Good systems, policies and procedures in place to ensure high quality

Easy to book (website, email, phone)

Working with the tourism industry to market your product around Australia.

Export ready means that your tourism business is ready to welcome visitors from all over the world. To do this you need to:

Be consistently available, 365 days per year

Provide high quality experiences

Have a strong and sustainable business with the ability to grow

Work with both Australian and international trade partners so your products are easy to find and can be booked anywhere around the world

Have a succession plan so your business can continue long into the future.

Using the right tools

Making a tool our cultural way is just like building a business. We need the right tools along the way like a business plan, a marketing plan, product development – at each stage we get the right tool for the job we need to do.

What tourism tools are available?

The NT Tourism Business Development Program has developed a Seven-Pillar Framework to help you get the right tools and support you need on your cultural tourism journey. The Seven Pillar Framework provides links to templates, support services and advice every step of your business lifecycle – whether you want to be a small business or a global one.