Tourism in Protected Areas (TIPA) frequently asked questions
- What is a commercial activity agreement?
- How does TIPA differ from the existing permit system?
- How does collaborative site planning and sustainable visitor capacity work?
- When does TIPA come into effect?
- What do existing permitted operators need to do?
- Who will require an agreement?
- Can agreements be transferred?
- What effect will Indigenous Management Agreements have on TIPA in Cape York?
- What fees will an operator pay in TIPA areas?
- When will areas transition to TIPA arrangements?
- How does an Expression of Interest process run and when will an EOI be run for TIPA areas?
What is a commercial activity agreement?
A commercial activity agreement provides access for a business to operate, within sustainable levels, for up to 15 years on one or more park sites.
An agreement is transferable, in part or whole, and importantly transferable in the event that a business is sold.
Agreements will require operators to apply for QPWS-endorsed eco-accreditation for their tourism products within 12 months of entering into that agreement and have attained eco-accreditation within 18 months of entering the agreement. Operators will be required to maintain accreditation for the life of the agreement.
Returns will be required every quarter based on visitors carried over the previous three months.
Operators can apply to renew their agreement at the 10-year mark, effective on expiry. This creates a secure environment for operators to plan and invest in quality nature-based tourism products over the longer term.
How does TIPA differ from the existing permit system?
The key ingredients of the new framework include:
- one agreement (obtained through one application process), which will allow a business to operate across multiple national park sites for all commercial activities
- flexibility for the agreement to be transferred if a business is sold (an option that was not available for permits)
- increased tenure length from three to 15 years
- one renewal at the 10-year mark, rather than a renewal every three years. This reduces the renewal requirements four-fold
- returns (reporting of passenger numbers) and payment of fees required quarterly rather than monthly
- QPWS endorsed eco-accreditation. Permits do not currently set any best practice eco-accreditation standards.
How does collaborative site planning and sustainable visitor capacity work?
Identifying the longer-term vision for visitor use of a site is best achieved by combining expertise from both tourism and protected area managers, and planning in a collaborative manner.
To do this, a working group comprised of tourism industry and QPWS representatives—including representatives who can offer both local and state perspectives—will provide advice to QPWS on future options for management of areas. This group will meet over a six-month period to consider the current site data—including visitation, patterns of use, tourism demand and infrastructure. QPWS will also take into account anticipated future demand, nature-based tourism planning, aspirations of stakeholders, alternative and complementary opportunities and site values when developing the longer term vision, which will guide the future management of the area. Visitor capacities established for sites will consider all visitor use, including Free and Independent Travelers (FITs) and those on commercially guided tours. QPWS will work with other important stakeholders including Traditional Owners and other community groups.
- Download the Fraser Island Sustainable Visitor Capacity Assessment (PDF, 6.7M)*.
- Download the Natural Bridge Sustainable Visitor Capacity Assessment (PDF, 1.1M)*.
When does TIPA come into effect?
TIPA will first apply to commercial tours at Natural Bridge in Springbrook National Park, Fraser Island Recreation Area in Great Sandy National Park and the Whitsundays islands. QPWS will work with operators to have commercial activity agreements in place by early 2012.
By late 2013, operators conducting commercial tours in the Cooloola Recreation Area in Great Sandy National Park, Moreton Island Recreation Area, Daintree National Park and Cape York (subject to existing and proposed Indigenous Management Agreements for each protected area) will have made the transition to commercial activity agreements.
Once all existing operators have transferred to agreements at sustainable levels, any available capacity may be offered publicly through an expression of interest process subject to prevailing market conditions.
Tour operators with current commercial activity permits or agreements have the option to move to a new agreement as areas are transferred to TIPA or on expiry of their current permit.
Application fees will be reimbursed for existing commercial tour operators who choose to move to agreements prior to expiry of their current permit.
More information is available in the Transferring from an Existing Commercial Activity Permit to a Commercial Activity Agreement fact sheet. (PDF, 462K)*
What do existing permitted operators need to do?
All commercial tour operators at TIPA sites will be required to be authorised under a commercial activity agreement.
Those who already hold a commercial activity permit can choose to either apply for a new agreement when the site transitions to TIPA arrangements or wait until their existing permit expires. Applications made prior to the expiry of a current permit will have the application fee reimbursed.
If an existing operator chooses not to take up an agreement, they may continue operations only until their current permit expires. Access at TIPA sites will only be authorised by an agreement through an expression of interest process.
Who will require an agreement?
Any business entity, organisation or individual undertaking an identified commercial activity, for example a guided tour, in the specified areas must hold an agreement.
A commercial activity is defined as having a principal commercial purpose or aim to profit from activities that are ongoing or regular. For more information, visit the commercial activites section of Tourism Tools.
Can agreements be transferred?
Yes. The holder of an agreement may apply to transfer the agreement to a new business operator if there is a change in business ownership and the buyer meets all QPWS requirements to operate on protected estate.
What effect will Indigenous Management Agreements have on TIPA in Cape York?
National parks (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal land) are jointly managed by Aboriginal Land Trusts and QPWS under Indigenous Management Agreements (IMAs). The development of commercial activity agreements for these parks will be carried out in accordance with the IMAs. Broadly, this means that the Aboriginal Land Trust and QPWS will both be involved in the assessment and decision-making process for commercial activity agreements in each park.
What fees will an operator pay in TIPA areas?
An early proposal under TIPA was that operators would pay for capacity held in an agreement as opposed to paying on ‘actual use’ as is currently the case. This means that an operator would pay daily passenger fees regardless of whether they had paying passengers or not. Capacity-based pricing was proposed as the mechanism to manage unused or latent capacity. It was agreed that capacity-based pricing was not an effective arrangement for industry in the long term and not the most efficient method of addressing latency concerns.
As such, fees will continue to be based on passengers actually carried by an operator. Fees applicable under Commercial Activity Permits will apply under Commercial Activity Agreements.
When will areas transition to TIPA arrangements?
TIPA will be implemented in a staged process, and will first apply to commercial tours at Natural Bridge in Springbrook National Park, Fraser Island Recreation Area in Great Sandy National Park, and the Whitsunday Islands. QPWS will work with operators to have commercial activity agreements in place by early 2012.By 2013, TIPA will be implemented at:
- Cooloola Recreation Area in the Great Sandy National Park
- Moreton Island Recreation Area
- Daintree National Park
- Cape York (subject to existing and proposed Indigenous Management Agreements for each protected area).
How does an Expression of Interest process run and when will an EOI be run for TIPA areas?
Once all tour operators in a TIPA area have been transferred to commercial activity agreements QPWS will assess the available commercial capacity at sites, consider prevailing market conditions and determine whether to offer capacity to the market.
Where it is determined that capacity is available within sustainable levels, an EOI process may be conducted. The timeframe for issue of EOI will be determined on a case-by-case basis depending on the amount of available capacity and priority for release.
More information is available in the Transferring from an Existing Commercial Activity Permit to a Commercial Activity Agreement fact sheet (PDF, 462K)*.
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Last updated 26 May 2011