Regional Planning and Resilient Futures: Destination Modelling and Tourism Development - the case of the Ningaloo Coastal Region in Western Australia

Abstract

The Ningaloo Destination Model (NDM) is an approach that engages key stakeholders in a more participative learning process, with the implications of potential future changes clearly set out for all to see. The case study for this approach is a region in Western Australia that is home to a globally significant fringing coral reef. This paper focuses on how the process and use of the NDM project builds regional resilience to cope with disturbances to socioecological systems in the context of regional planning. The various stages of the development and use of the NDM are discussed. The paper concludes that the NDM needs more than good data and reliable modelling to contribute to regional planning; it also needs to encourage the characteristics that build regional resilience through the modelling process and model use.