Some 30 frontline staff from NSW, Victoria and the ACT working throughout the Australian Alps will be attending a two day workshop at Birrigai at Tidbinbilla in the ACT on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The workshop is aimed at increasing their capacity to better assist visitors to the Alps region.

The Frontline of the Alps Workshop is an initiative of the Australian Alps Liaison Committee (AALC), a body incorporating government agencies with a major role in managing significant parts of the Australian Alps national parks; the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), Parks Victoria, and ACT Parks Conservation and Lands.

Australian Alps Program Manager, Rod Atkins, said today that the aim of the workshop is to improve the knowledge base of people who deal daily on a face-to-face basis with visitors to the Australian Alps as well as provide an opportunity for networking amongst park managers and people in the tourism industry.

“The people who are attending are largely involved in providing tourism services and visitor centre staff whose job is to deal directly with the public. These people provide a diverse array of information about the Australian Alps, how it is managed, what is important and how to care for the significant national and international values of the Alps when visiting,” Mr Atkins said.

“Staff from Parks Victoria, ACT Parks, Conservation and Lands and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service will impart to this group a huge amount of information that will be invaluable in dealing with people visiting the Alps.

“We will bring them up to date with the Alps National Parks Program, give public contact training and advice, and talk about significant recent achievements like the National Heritage listing of the parks and the National Landscapes Program.

“They will also receive presentations on Indigenous and non-Indigenous culture, geology and flora and fauna in the Australian Alps.

“The Australian Alps National Parks are extremely important to the local communities that rely heavily on tourism and it is part of our role to support the local tourism industry. We are also facilitating input to the National Landscapes Program by increasing the ability of frontline staff to maintaining high standards of information for visitors to the region,” Mr Atkins said.

Media Enquiries

Rod Atkins
Mobile 0429 618 308