Geotourism is a sustainable form of tourism based on the geodiversity of our environment and encourages learning about natural and cultural heritage. Australia’s natural and cultural geo-attractions are unique and complement existing tourism markets.

The rich geodiversity of our environment is an opportunity to support sustainable growth as well as adding value to the overall tourist experience. Despite the fact that we have an abundant geoheritage other countries only dream off, this great potential is currently still largely overlooked.

Geotourism is emerging as a new global phenomenon which fosters tourism based upon landscapes.

Its definition has recently been refined as a form of tourism that specifically focuses on the geology and landscapes which shape the character of a region.

Sports tourism refers to the act of traveling specially for the purpose of enjoying sports in one way or another.

Sports tourism constitutes a large part of the tourism industry, with sources claiming that a quarter of all tourism in the world is sports-related. Sports tourism includes not only participation in and attending sporting events, but also personal recreational activities.

“Tourism and sport are interrelated and complementary… both are powerful forces for development, stimulating investment in infrastructure projects such as airports, roads, stadiums, sporting complexes and restaurants- projects that can be enjoyed by the local population as well as tourists who come to use them.”

Australian Tourism
Australia’s visitor economy is vital for Australia’s national prosperity. Domestic and international visitation generates jobs, investment, and growth in communities throughout Australia. Prior to COVID-19, the visitor economy contributed over $166 billion to our economy, was our fourth largest export sector and, directly and indirectly, supported over 1 million jobs. The experience visitors have in Australia influences their future spending and investment decisions, drives demand for Australian products and services, and creates lasting networks for Australia around the world.

We must develop new and innovative products and experiences, and refresh existing ones, to attract first time and repeat visitors. We can do this by leveraging the factors that we know drive destination choice for high value travellers and which align to our unique offerings.

These include nature and wildlife, food and wine, aquatic and coastal experiences, history and heritage, and friendly and welcoming locals. We will also explore new product segments where they align with our offering, such as the high-yield segment of travellers seeking luxury experiences.

Events will also be a critical part of our product portfolio to maximise visitation. Sporting, artistic, cultural and especially business events are all effective at driving high-yield visitation. Events can also play an important part in kick-starting recovery, with new and innovative events providing the catalyst to drive visitation. Mass participation events are also particularly important in driving new business and investment, including in regional locations.

Smartphones are the ideal tool to connect tourists to “things to do: and “things to see” across Australia.

And Unreal World connects tourists to geolocation-based tourism information – videos, images, stories, trails, accommodation, sightseeing information, food and beverage, and special interests across the nation. A virtual gateway to a host of tourism related information.

The UNreal platform is made up of hundreds of thousands of what are effectively mini-website information points. We call them UN-Real-Points (URPs). These URPs are created, controlled and updated by UNrealAR’s writers, journalists, orbiteers, volunteers and our partners.

UNreal World assembles knowledge – past-present and future – and geo-locates it. We do this by utilising our own journalists, writers and editors – and we open up our capability to partners, communities and commercial subscribers. On the UNreal platform, real people own and control the knowledge they contribute – and that knowledge can be historical, scientific, cultural, artistic, special interest, events, public safety, and community service-related information.

A walking club may create URPs to guide routes; sporting clubs may publish match fixtures and timeslots; music performers may move their URP to their next perfromance venue; surf life saving clubs may update beach conditions during the day for the beachgoing public ... We already chart movie and literary locations, as well as street art, and present those URPs to the individual artists to manage for themselves.

While we function as a global digital technology platform, we actually see ourselves as a global publisher of geo-located knowledge and information. That knowledge is maintained – and often created – by local people and enthusiasts. UNrealAR is a new way to communicate with local and global publics at the same time.