Well-managed tourism in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park boosts environmental awareness of the Australian icon and helps ensure it is preserved for future generations.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Executive Director John Tanzer said sustainable tourism resulted from a strong partnership between the agency and industry and a platform of strict environmental controls.

“The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority works with the tourism industry to ensure the reef is well-managed, healthy and preserved for the future,” he said.

“Good environmental management is achieved through sustainable practices like zoning, planning and individually-assessed permits for all tourism operators. All tourism on the reef is tightly managed and tourism operators comply with legislated environmental standards.

“Operators and tourism associations are committed to protecting the reef by operating to the highest possible environmental standards and participating in water quality and coral bleaching monitoring programmes and reporting illegal incidents.”

Other management tools - such as no-anchoring areas, reef protection markers, public and private moorings and compliance campaigns - are also used to lessen potential impacts at high-use sites.

Mr Tanzer said tourism played a key role in educating international audiences and local visitors to the reef about why the World Heritage Area was worth protecting and conserving.

“Tourism operators enable more than 1.9 million domestic and international visitors to experience our unique marine ecosystem each year,” he said.

“Most visitors finish their reef trip with a greater appreciation of the marine environment.

“Their experience equips them with knowledge about how they can help protect the Great Barrier Reef and share conservation messages.

“The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority also helps educate visitors on how they can look after the reef through promoting best practice tourism such as whale watching, snorkelling and diving.”

Marine Park tourism contributes more than $5.1 billion to the national economy and generates more than 54 000 jobs for Australians each year.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and tourism industry partnership has been highlighted as best practice management at the United Nations Environment Programme, Conservation International and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperative.