'Tourism Australia statistics show that many overseas tourists, as well as Australians, are keen to learn more about Australia’s first peoples. And while the Indigenous tourism industry continues to grow, no comprehensive travel guide is currently available.
'Marcia Langton’s Welcome to Country is a completely new and inclusive guidebook to Indigenous Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. In its pages, respected elder and author Professor Marcia Langton answers questions such as what does ‘country' mean to Indigenous people. A detailed introduction covers such topics as Indigenous languages and customs, history, native title, art and dance, storytelling, and cultural awareness and etiquette for visitors. This is followed by a directory of Indigenous tourism experiences, organised into state and territory sections, covering galleries and festivals, communities that are open to visitors, tours and performances.
'This book is for everyone travelling around this fascinating country who wants to gain an insight into the culture that has thrived here for over 50,000 years, and enjoy tourism opportunities that will show you a different side of Australia — one that remains dynamic, and is filled with openness and diversity. This book will quickly become one of the most important travel guides to be published in recent times. ' (Publication summary)
'This article examines travel guidebooks to Indigenous Australia, focussing on predominantly Aboriginal-authored texts. Acknowledging the body of work that has critiqued travel guides as mediators of oppressive cultural discourses, it is as much concerned with the risks inherent in these texts, as it is interested in their potential as sites of authorship and reading that enable anti-colonial ambitions. Two questions animate the discussion. First: to what extent are Aboriginal guidebooks consistent with conventional understandings of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians? And second, how do these texts influence tourist activity in ways that respect Aboriginal sovereignty? While not providing a definitive answer to either of these questions, the article, nevertheless, opens up an examination of the cultural work performed by Aboriginal-authored guidebooks during a period of rapid change in the politics of race in Australia.' (Introduction)
'Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world visit sites of natural beauty and significance to Aboriginal people: Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, Kakadu, the Bungle Bungles in the Kimberley, Cape Yorke.' (Introduction)
'Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world visit sites of natural beauty and significance to Aboriginal people: Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, Kakadu, the Bungle Bungles in the Kimberley, Cape Yorke.' (Introduction)
'This article examines travel guidebooks to Indigenous Australia, focussing on predominantly Aboriginal-authored texts. Acknowledging the body of work that has critiqued travel guides as mediators of oppressive cultural discourses, it is as much concerned with the risks inherent in these texts, as it is interested in their potential as sites of authorship and reading that enable anti-colonial ambitions. Two questions animate the discussion. First: to what extent are Aboriginal guidebooks consistent with conventional understandings of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians? And second, how do these texts influence tourist activity in ways that respect Aboriginal sovereignty? While not providing a definitive answer to either of these questions, the article, nevertheless, opens up an examination of the cultural work performed by Aboriginal-authored guidebooks during a period of rapid change in the politics of race in Australia.' (Introduction)
