One of Queensland’s most celebrated regions, the Scenic Rim, has partnered with EarthCheck to protect one of its most valuable resources and assist tourism operators to recovery from natural disasters.
Listed in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel as one of the Top Ten ‘must-visit’ regions for 2022, the Scenic Rim is an area of spectacular natural beauty in South East Queensland. Just one hour’s drive from both Brisbane and the Gold Coast, it boasts world-heritage listed national parks and is renowned for its friendly, relaxed country lifestyle, nature-based experiences, and award-winning local produce.
Tourism is the second largest industry in the Scenic Rim with more than one in ten people employed in the Scenic Rim working in tourism and hospitality.
The Scenic Rim is no stranger to challenges such as drought, floods and bushfires but recognises being prepared both professionally and personally is key to building a strong community that can get back on its feet and continue to prosper and grow.
Scenic Rim Regional Council has partnered with EarthCheck to deliver training and development opportunities to guide its tourism businesses and operators in developing a comprehensive and individually-tailored Business Continuity Plan.
“We’re proud to support Council’s ambition to be a leader in this space,” said Stewart Moore, CEO and Founder of EarthCheck. “Our innovative program ensures we are building knowledge, skills and confidence across the tourism industry, so that operators can manage their business in the event of a natural disaster or future crisis.”
The program has been made possible with funding from the Australian and Queensland Governments as a component of the 2019 Queensland Bushfires Community Recovery Package under Category C of the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
Delivered by EarthCheck in September and October 2021, it supported local tourism businesses and operators to build their ability to anticipate and react quickly to change, grow stronger from adversity and respond effectively when a disaster impacts their business.
“It’s vital that the Scenic Rim’s tourism businesses and operators build resilience and have plans in place to face inevitable future disasters” said Scenic Rim Mayor and Local Disaster Management Group Chair Greg Christensen.
“Our businesses need to adapt quickly to disruptions while maintaining continuous operations to support their own business, their employees, and the broader tourism industry, our region’s economy and the local community.
“This requires careful planning, preparation, and ongoing assessment and evaluation.
“We are proud to be working with EarthCheck, with the support of the Australian and Queensland Governments, to give our local tourism operators all the tools they need to create, implement and evaluate their own Business Continuity Plan.”
Business resilience goes a step beyond disaster preparation and recovery by introducing post-disaster strategies to help avoid costly downtime, reduce vulnerabilities and maintain business operations in the face of additional, unexpected events.
EarthCheck’s unique insights into risk and resilience ensured the co-operatively delivered program supported tourism operators to develop a deeper understanding of the impacts and phases for disaster or crisis management whilst developing comprehensive incident response and recovery plans.