Client: Marrayeh Architects, Sydney, Australia
Landform Planning: Dr. Francis Ng
My role: Ecotourism Program Consultant
If there is a dream-like stretch of beach that isolates one from the rest of the world, Marudu Bay is definitely a front-runner. It is a place not many have heard of, much less pick out on a map. While its far flung native community need the extra income, it is clear ecotourism impact must be mitigated at the earliest stage of planning.
The thing about ecotourism in unpolished areas, everything is very vivid. All good bits are really good, and bad ones are downright a meltdown. Nothing is tempered by the experience of sensible overview. Reality is hard hitting. Ecotourism cannot arrange nature to make things pleasurable for holidaymakers all the time. It arranges things so that everyone ends up being balanced and enlightened.
I am normally not too cooked up with the “Is this done right?” conundrum. If my intuition says OK, then I’d go for it. There may be a few bad choices in the beginning but this at least, is a realistic approach. Implementing a great ecotourism initiative is an art that takes years to cultivate because every place is unique. If there are enough thoughts during the planning stage, then half the battle is already won.
I always believe that the best ways to ace an ecotourism project is to work “backwards”. It is generally called OBT or outcome-based tourism. The concept of OBT calls for outcomes to be identified first and then guiding principles are developed to achieve them. Simply put, it has to be result-orientated.
A field study of 12 months was granted by the client to assess it’s unique selling points, geographical character and what can be done for community participation. More importantly the exercise also identifies what can go wrong not to scare, but simply to make the right steps when placing architectural buildups that are ecologically low impact and culturally appropriate.