Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 523­545, 2003
 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Printed in Great Britain
0160-7383/03/$30.00
www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures
doi:10.1016/S0160-7383(02)00104-4
THE BOUNDARIES OF
NATURE TOURISM
Gordon Waitt
Ruth Lane
Lesley Head
University of Wollongong, Australia
Abstract: This paper illustrates the malleable boundaries that define nature. Personal con-
struct theory is employed to examine the apparent contradiction of the human/nature binary
posed by landscapes generated by domesticated agriculture and physical and biological pro-
cesses. Specifically, the paper reports on how tourists to the Kimberley region of Australia
discriminate between their perception of human artifacts as attractions (including Lake
Argyle, the Argyle Dam, and irrigated agriculture) and the region's gorges, rivers, billabongs,
flora and fauna. Repertory grid analysis suggests that the Argyle Dam is perceived in a similar
fashion to physical, geological, and biological attractions. However, the irrigated agriculture
is perceived quite differently, as domesticated. Policy implications for the region's nature
based tourism are explored. Keywords: personal construct theory, nature tourism, The Kim-
berley.  2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Résumé: Les lignes de démarcation du tourisme de la nature. Cet article illustre les fron-
tie`res malléables qui définissent la nature. On utilise la théorie de la construction person-
nelle pour examiner l'apparente contradiction du syste`me binaire humain/nature, qui est
représenté par des paysages générés par l'agriculture et les processus physiques et biolo-
giques domestiqués. En particulier, l'article constitue un rapport sur la fac¸on dont les tour-
istes a` la région du Kimberley, en Australie, font la distinction entre leur perception des
attractions qui sont des constructions humanies (Lac Argyle, le barrage Argyle et l'agriculture
irriguée) et celle des gorges, rivie`res, billabongs, flore et faune. Une analyse par grille de
répertoire sugge`re que le barrage Argyle est perc¸u de la me^me fac¸on que les attractions
physiques, géologiques et biologiques. Par contre, l'agriculture irriguée est perc¸ue comme
apprivoisée. On examine les implications pour la politique du tourisme basé sur la nature
de la région. Mots-clés: théorie de construction personnelle, tourisme de la nature, le Kim-
berley.  2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION
This study attends to the way landscapes are constructed, circulated,
and consumed in social space through various means of represen-
tation. In particular it provides an empirical case study of the relation-
ship between promotional imagery texts and "the tourist gaze" (Urry
Lesley Head, Ruth Lane and Gordon Waitt are all currently at the School of Geosciences,
University of Wollongong (Wollongong NSW, 2522, Australia. Email <gwaitt@uow.edu.au>).
The Second author is a PhD candidate. Her thesis examines the spatial politics of land use
change in the Kimberley. The other two are Associate Professors, both teaching in the
School's Human Geography program. Their research interests include the social construc-
tions of nature.
523
524 NATURE-BASED TOURISM
1990). As Squire (1994) argues, landscapes become attractions
through the meanings that are ascribed to them by promotional agenc-
ies and tourists. The purpose is to explore how marketing operates to
naturalize human landscapes as "wilderness". In other words, how
human artifacts are understood and experienced in such a way as to
appear self-evidently true and unproblematic for nature-based tourism.
The paper addresses the question posed by Selwyn (1996:29) whether
the tourist is "a mere sucker for the surfaces of the tourism brochure".
Drawing upon Dann's (1996) theoretical ideas that the promotional
language not only guides but controls experiences, tourism marketing
operates to sustain apparently contradictory structures within the West-
ern culture/nature binary through a culturally derived system of signs
and signifiers that either silences human impacts, making them invis-
ible, or portrays them as natural.
The case study is an irrigation scheme, built during the 60s and early
70s on the Ord River, in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia
(Figure 1). The irrigation scheme includes Lake Argyle, Australia's
largest artifact. This study investigates the role of various promotional
imagery texts in sustaining the myth that the Kimberley is a "wilder-
ness" location through tourists' own reading of the symbolism of pro-
motional imagery. Its physical realities would appear to conflict with
representations of pristine nature signified by the "last frontier" mar-
keting pitch. Doing so, this paper involves a process that sustains "wil-
derness" in the public imagining of the East Kimberley, one of the
founding colonial myths of white settlement of Australia (Langton
1994).
In examining tourists' consumption of promotional textual images,
this paper develops a deeper understanding of how the tourism indus-
try relates to the politics of land use in the East Kimberley. Presently
the Kimberley is the focus of highly controversial debates about land
use surrounding the irrigation proposal, Ord Stage Two. In the devel-
opment context, potential for conflict arising from incompatible geo-
graphical imaginations of domesticated agriculture and frontier based
nature tourism has so far been overlooked in consultants' reports con-
cerned with social, economic, and environmental impacts (Hassall and
Associates 1993; Kinhill 2000; Naralup Associates 1996). Within the
context of the East Kimberley's contested politics of space, the poten-
tial implications of circulating colonial settlers' frontier myths in Tour-
ism imagery texts are addressed. The promotional practices provide
an avenue for determining how particular understandings of a place
gain more authority than others do and may, in turn, inform land-use
decision-making processes.
While sharing the aim of previous research in examining signs and
shared meanings, this study differs from the majority of publications
exploring the relationship between texts and tourist experiences in
three ways. First, non-academic audiences were consulted for the
interpretation of textual images, rather than solely relying upon hypo-
thesized motivations and desires from a deconstruction of promotional
images. The arguement goes well beyond the deductive approaches to
text that dominate much current research (Markwick 2001; Waitt
525WAITT, LANE AND HEAD
Figure 1. The East Kimberley Region
1997) and thus contributes to the growing interest in the reception
and interpretation of texts and their influence on the society and cul-
ture to which the individual belongs (McGregor 2000).
Second, the epistemological positioning here is within critical
realism (Sayer 1992) rather than social constructivism (Macnaghten
and Urry 1995). The critical-realist position attempts to include the
ontological assertions of empiricism as well as the epistemological con-
cerns of constructivism: ideas are social concepts that have an ontologi-
cal basis but are understood via a particular, socially predisposed
526 NATURE-BASED TOURISM
framework. In other words, in this paper nature is not denied to exist
as an object external to human experience. However, all knowledge
is acknowledged as socially constructed and some abstractions can be
extremely robust in terms of standing the test of time.
Third, an approach from psychology--personal construct theory--
is drawn upon to examine empirically how tourists collectively experi-
ence attractions presented in promotional imagery texts. The psycho-
logical component of affective response has recently been ignored in
the social construction of place in favor of more qualitative forms of
analysis (for exceptions see Walmsley and Young 1998 and Young
1999). While adopting a quantitative approach, this should not be
interpreted as a search for objectively based truth. Instead, personal
construct theory is an empirical approach that enables identification
of emotional meanings that people attach to environments, and thus
complements qualitative analysis.
TOURISM MARKETING AND TOURIST EXPERIENCES
Elsewhere in the world, this scenery would attract thousands of tour-
ists. But this is the remote Kimberley, so few even know of its existence
(McGonigal 1990:7).
The Kimberley is a very recent tourism destination, located beyond the
boundaries of established tourism circuits until the 70s. Travel restric-
tions included the semi-arid monsoonal climate with a nine-month dry
season, temperatures in excess of 40 degrees centigrade as well as the
absence of sealed roads, regular commercial flights, and accommo-
dation. During the 70s, the primary focus was showing a specialist-
niche group, mostly middle aged Australian tourists, the failed cotton
irrigation areas and dam infrastructure of the then newly built Ord
River Irrigation Area (ORIA) (opened in 1972). Irrigation was made
possible by the construction (at a cost of US$11 million) of the Argyle
Dam, the creation of Lake Argyle where the Ord River enters the Carr-
Boyd Ranges, and a diversion dam further downstream which raises
the river level and diverts water for irrigation (Head 1999). The magni-
tude of Lake Argyle is represented in terms of either its capacity (5.5
million cubic meters) or that it is "nine times the volume of Sydney
Harbor" (McGonigal 1990), enough "to supply the world's population
with a thousand liters each" (Daly, Dehne, Leffman and Scott
1993:519). Yet, the dam wall is only 99m high and 335m long. At this
time the irrigation area was made infamous, because two years after
the opening, the area was abandoned due mainly to the prohibitive
cost of pest control and the absence of viable alternatives to cotton.
Furthermore, public controversy emerged with extensive media cover-
age over the dam's drowning of country (an estimated 2,000 square
km in flood and the Western Australian Wildlife Authority's "rescue"
endeavor, named "Operation Noah".
In the 80s tourism benefited from the improved facilities and infra-
structure associated with the irrigation scheme, such as the establish-
527WAITT, LANE AND HEAD
ment of agricultural research stations and the building of Kununurra,
ORIA's service and administrative center. In this decade too, the estab-
lishment of the Argyle Diamond Mine, later to become a tourism
attraction in its own-right, also facilitated growth. Furthermore, agricul-
tural output increased through the diversification into high return
crops including cashews, peanuts, and chickpeas, as well as bananas
and rockmelons. Backpackers, seeking casual employment during the
fruit-picking season, began including Kununurra into their circuit.
At the same time, the appeal to independent and package tourists to
northwestern Australia was increased, following the extensive publicity
given to the "discovery" of the Bungle Bungles sandstone formations
and with proliferation of air conditioned recreational 4 wheeldrive
vehicles. Cited in guidebooks as "one of Australia's greatest natural
attractions" (Daly et al 1995:564), the Bungle Bungles has market
appeal to those motivated by adventure, nature, and/or eco-tourism.
In part, this emphasis on the physical environment may account for
the lack of an Aboriginal Australian presence in tourism, despite their
numerically important presence within the Wyndham-East Kimberley
Shire. Undoubtedly, also important were the negative experiences of
Aboriginal people in relation to the formation and management of
Mirima National Park (Senior 1987) and the Argyle Mine. Since the
80s, the "discovery" of the Bungle Bungles, the resurgence of ORIA,
and the opening of the diamond mine, combined with a marketing
emphasis shift to the environment, has seen tourist numbers substan-
tially increase. Kununurra, for the majority of arrivals, is primarily a
short stay service center from which to visit the Bungle Bungles, Lake
Argyle, and the Argyle Diamond Mine. These attractions are often only
part of a much larger self-drive through northwest Australia, with
attractions often separated by thousands of kilometers.
Official figures reflect these trends. The Kimberley's tourist profile
is mainly comprised of transient (average stay of three nights), inde-
pendent tourists who often tour in off-road vehicles during the dry
season of May to October (WATC 1996). Official figures suggest visi-
tation numbers doubled between 1981/92­1994/1995, reaching
around 108,000 arrivals in 1997. In the years to 2005, the estimated
annual growth rate is 5% (WATC and KDC 1998). Before the Sep-
tember 11 event in the United States, the percentage of overseas tour-
ists was predicted to grow most rapidly, having doubled between 1995
and 1996 from 7 to 14% (WATC and KDC 1998).
The Australian Frontier Myth
The Kimberley, a mysterious, ancient land. So remote, so immense,
so rugged--it challenges you to discover it ... the Last Frontier (a
Slingair brochure).
The Kimberley is sold as the "last frontier". The Australian millionaire
and adventurer-publisher Dick Smith confirms the legitimacy of this
claim, asserting "that it would be hard to think of a place more worthy
528 NATURE-BASED TOURISM
of the title of `the last frontier' " (1990:3). The Kimberley trades on
the fact that Australia's frontier has never been officially closed, unlike
the American frontier which was declared closed in 1890 (Rose 1997a).
Closer examination of the tour brochures and guidebooks suggest
the frontier marketing strategy has a hybrid character comprising sub-
lime natural "beauty", the "real" Australia, "wilderness", and a setting
for adventure and a proving ground for the young. As sublime natural
"beauty", McGonigal comments that "the land and seascape that
unfolded before us were awe-inspiring" (1990:7). The idea of the land-
scape as a source of marvel is reiterated by Moon and Moon: "Its [the
Kimberley's] rugged ranges, wide sweeping plains and its jewel like
sources of water ... are a magical inspiration to us" (1997:17). As the
"real" Australia, McGonigal claims that the Kimberley "epitomizes the
image of Australia that Australians present to the world" (1990:11).
The "real" Australia is a "timeless place" (WATC 1999:104), with "wide
open spaces" (Moon and Moon 1989: backcover). The wilderness
experience is epitomized by the latter authors' promise that "every per-
son that visits ... will discover some secret spot" (1997:17). Further,
as an adventure setting, the archetype of the Kimberley landscape is
contained in the Australia Rough Guide's description of El Questro
Gorge as "straight out of an Indiana Jones movie" (Daly et al 1995:520).
Unquestionably, then, the Kimberley is marketed for its apparent time-
lessness, naturalness, and wilderness.
Marketing draws upon and perpetuates the 19th century European
thought exploring human-environmental relations at the edges of
nations, where human presence was believed to be absent. The frontier
myth is called upon, and perpetuated by the contemporary tourism
industry to sustain the portrayal of a pristine nature. Moreover, pro-
motions suggest that the tourist cannot only visit an unknown and
unusual place, but also move backwards in time. The Kimberley is
presented as separated from the civilized world not only by space but
also by a chasm in time, or what McClintock refers to as anachronistic
space (1995:40).
Rose's (1997:27) concepts of "Ground Zero" and "Year Zero" help
explore the marketing potential of the frontier myth. Ground Zero
articulates the frontier's role in interpreting history by drawing upon
the linear narrative of scientific progressivism, romantic primitivism,
and polar binaries (savagery and civilization, wilderness and urban,
wild and domesticated). A central tenet of the Ground Zero argument
is that the advancing frontier has been the site of the formation of the
both the nation and the national character. Historians Frederick Jack-
son Turner (1920) and Russell Ward (1958), respectively, articulated
the frontier myth in America and Australia as a molding force of
national character. Mary Durack's novel, Kings in Grass Castles, sus-
tained and popularized that myth to many tourists, contending that
those "frontier conditions ... have left a lasting impression on national
character and governments" (1986:17­18). According to the environ-
mental determinism of the frontier thesis it is argued that the so-called
distinctive "Australian" attributes of independence, resourcefulness,
mateship, and egalitarianism were in turn molded by the unique,
529WAITT, LANE AND HEAD
inhospitable conditions of the Australian bush. A national character
was constructed, born of the contest between nature and white,
colonizing settlers.
As a white settler frontier, the Kimberley becomes a "marginal"
location, outside the ambit of "human society". Instantly, according to
the frontier myth, all marginal places become unpopulated landscapes,
or at best peopled by "uncivilized" humans. The frontier myth draws
upon the binary geographical imagination of "here" and "there" to
erase indigenous peoples. A vast emptiness was essential for the fron-
tier mythology, the place in which the new nation forms itself. Indigen-
ous people were represented in frontier imagery as part of the environ-
ment and as destined to fade away as a natural consequence of their
encounter with civilization. Settlers are represented as advancing "for-
ward".
Within academe both these arguments of an Australian national
identity born of the environment have generated strong criticism
(Kapferer 1988; McGregor 1994). Equally, anthropologists suggest a
far more complex picture of accommodation and resistance than the
extinction proposed in the frontier thesis (Head 1994; Rose 1991).
Despite such critiques, the Ground Zero myth still enjoys widespread
currency within the tourism industry. The environmental determinism
of the frontier still potentially operates to strip off the garments of
civilization and array the tourist in a singlet and shorts, experiencing
what the myth purports it means to be Australian. The Kimberley
becomes the "real" Australia, understood as the antithesis of the urban,
offering a place for personal self-discovery, regeneration, and renewal.
Furthermore, a visit can be marketed as an escape to a wild place, free
from the ills of contemporary society. The wild is an integral part of
the frontier mythology, following the linear historical narrative of "civi-
lization". It occupies a special niche in tourism place marketing
because it is understood as a place without "us" (an escape), populated
by indigenous people and creatures at once both wonderful and mon-
strous (the exotic). The wild remains unchallenged in tourism market-
ing, understood as that outside civilization's geographic and historical
reach. By erasing the presence of indigenous people as human, and
casting them as part of nature, the myth creates a vast emptiness in
which tourists can become explorers and experience apparently pris-
tine nature. The frontier as Ground Zero potentially offers tour oper-
ators not only a uniquely Australian product but also opportunities for
escape, self-discovery, or heroism in a vast, pristine, wild, and reputedly
empty natural environment.
Year Zero examines how the frontier thesis sustains an argument
that places are separated by apparently occupying different temporal
locations. By calling upon colonial discourses of primitivism and scien-
tific progressivism, the frontier is culturally constructed as a disjunctive
moment when both history and civilization are about to begin. The
frontier is imagined as an ontological demarcation, cutting across
country between timeless (prehistory) and historicized land. Rather
than being an instance demarcated in time, the frontier is given qual-
ities of liminal time because history is always about to begin, where
530 NATURE-BASED TOURISM
something is about to happen, but has not yet quite begun. The Kim-
berley thus becomes portrayed as almost suspended in time. "Glacial
time" is the term coined by Rojek and Urry (1997) referring to this
apparent temporal hiatus given to portraying places at the margins of
Western settler societies; this contrasts to the "instantaneous time" of
cities. Year Zero gains currency within tourism, as it equips the industry
with the illusion of time travel. A porthole to prehistory is opened to
a place that time apparently forgot.
The frontier myth enables marketeers to flavor a journey with the
romantic attraction of primitivism, tinged with allegedly distinctive
qualities of Australian nationalism. While the tourism industry employs
imagery and texts to sustain a particular mythical understanding, a
multiplicity of receptions and interpretations are open to tourists.
Acknowledging that they are not simply passive consumers, responding
uncritically to a series of signs and symbols without regard for their
personal attributes requires a methodology that can deal with these
complexities. Personal construct theory addresses these difficulties by
examining what each tourism attraction means for both the individual
and tourists collectively.
Study Methods
Personal construct theory is employed in this study to explore the
collective affective meanings of tourists responding to promotional
imagery. Developed in clinical psychology by Kelly (1955), the theory
assumes that people make sense of themselves and the world around
them through formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses and
developing theories. Personal construct theory, according to Warren
(1990), claims knowledge about the world is not fact filled or given
(accumulative fragmentalism), but is instead achieved through piecing
together fragments of information (constructive alternativism). New
experiences are interpreted using the order made out of previous ones
as a basis. According to personal construct theory, individuals under-
stand the world by erecting a complex, hierarchical, personally
organized system of constructs (or interpretations) of experienced
events. Although the system is personal, people can share or appreciate
alternative interpretations. Hence, a construct is envisaged as a means
for discriminating between objects, a mechanism by which to dis-
tinguish similarity from difference. However, a construct is not simply
a verbal label. Each construct is an abstraction that subsumes some
aspect of a repeated set of events of which the person is aware. Further-
more, Kelly (1955) envisaged constructs as dualistic. Equated to a line
connecting two points (opposite poles), the construct's bipolar struc-
ture emphasized that affirmation and negation are integrally linked.
Based on an individual's perception, an object can be placed some-
where on a scale between two poles, building a mental guide to the
world. As a result of personal experiences (experimenting), constructs
are constantly assessed. As such, personal constructs are envisaged as
guidelines for living.
Repertory grid technique is the methodological component of this
531WAITT, LANE AND HEAD
theory. Kelly devised it as a method for exploring personal construct
systems. The grid enables the identification and the examination of
relationships within a specific domain. The method has three main
components: "elements" define the specific domain to be investigated,
"constructs" are the ways that respondents differentiate between the
elements, and "linking mechanisms" show how each element is judged
on each construct. The value of repertory grids within various tourism
domains has been recognized for over three decades (Pearce 1982;
Young 1999; Zube, Pitt and Anderson 1975). In these and other appli-
cations, some minor methodological modifications have been neces-
sary to extend its use beyond clinical psychology, where the original
objective was to explore the roles that individuals play in interpersonal
relations. For example, evaluation of landscapes by large numbers of
respondents is frequently carried out using photographic surrogates
rather than place or personal names. Nevertheless, the administration
of repertory grid analysis generally proceeds in four stages: eliciting
elements, eliciting constructs, completing grids, and analysis.
To ascertain how tourism marketing may help prevent discrimi-
nation between the ORIA artifacts and other attractions, "elements"
had to be identified. In choosing elements, the advice of Fransella
and Banniester (1977) and Easterby-Smith (1981) was followed: that
elements should be specific, drawn from the same category or domain,
representative and familiar to respondents. Therefore, an extensive
review was conducted of the widely available and circulated pro-
motional materials. This suggested that, given the aim of this project,
several potential elements could be immediately eliminated, including
those images of the Argyle Diamond Mine, Kununurra, and Wyndham.
Of the remaining images, the promotional materials not only por-
trayed a limited number of "nature" based attractions but also utilized
similar compositions, angles, time of day, and season.
From a "short list" of 90 promotional images, a representative sample
of 13 was selected. In addition to the dam, lake, and irrigated agri-
culture, images included crocodiles, rock wallabies, bird-life, boab
trees, a corroboree (an Aboriginal dance performance), a pastoral
station muster, barramundi fishing, a billabong (lake), a waterfall with
canyon, and The Bungle Bungles. Once the key elements were ident-
ified, constructs were derived from an initial survey of 40 respondents.
Small sample sizes such as this one are typical in personal construct
research; this is because of the method's time-consuming nature - up-
to one hour in many cases (Chokor 1991). Maximizing the sociodemo-
graphic diversity of respondents increased confidence in the elicited
constructs. A quota-sampling frame was designed containing equal
numbers of males/females, under/over 40s. In addition, to ensure that
the experiences of tourists both familiar and unfamiliar with the attrac-
tions were incorporated into the constructs, the survey was conducted
in two locations: the Kununurra shopping plaza during March 1999
and in Sydney (at Circular Quay and Bald Hill) during April 1999.
Given that the object was to measure affective response to a particular
attraction, it was not essential for a participant to have actually visited
the attraction. In both locations, the sampling procedure involved sel-
532 NATURE-BASED TOURISM
ecting the first eligible person to pass the interview points; that is, a
tourist in a quota category that had not been exceeded.
To elicit constructs, respondents were presented promotional
images within the standard triadic method (Fransella and Banniester
1977:14­19). This method involves presenting to the subject triads of
elements with the questions "In what important way(s) are two alike
and thereby different from the third?" Given time restriction and
respondent fatigue, participants could not view each of the 286 poss-
ible triads with 13 elements. A pilot study indicated that an individual
could consider 14 triads in around 20 minutes. By numbering each
photograph and determining its selection with a table of random num-
bers, a random set of 14 triads was drawn subject only to the constraint
that no attraction could occur more than four times. The random out-
come was that six attractions occurred four times and six appeared
three times. Therefore, subjects were presented with 14 random photo-
graphic elements, in triads.
Triads were presented in the same order to all subjects. A record
was taken of the words used by respondents. Before viewing the first
triad, subjects were reminded that they had to consider and differen-
tiate among the photographs in terms of their own tourism and leisure
experiences. In particular, they were asked to reflect upon how one
attraction differed from the remaining two. Respondent appraisals are
termed the "emergent" or "explicit" pole, and usually take the form
of an adjective. To identify the "submerged" or implicit "pole", parti-
cipants were asked to articulate what they considered to be the
opposite of their description. In this way, each construct was recorded
as a bipolar scale.
If each person in the combined surveys used a different construct
to differentiate one element in the triad, the number of potential con-
structs would have been 576. In fact, however, only 76 constructs were
elicited because, predictably, some respondents provided similar adjec-
tives. Not surprisingly, there was overlap between the feelings enunci-
ated through words with similar meaning. Alternatively, even after
questioning and probing, the elicited constructs remained situational
(I have visited these sites), permeable (they are both animals), or vague
(they are both okay). Furthermore, other subjects felt unable to con-
strue a particular element.
Since 76 constructs are unmanageable within a questionnaire for-
mat, a smaller set of was derived from the elicited ones through a
consultation process among the investigators. A smaller subset of 20
derived constructs was the outcome of a process in which the
researchers independently and then collectively summarized the elic-
ited constructs through word association. Each of the derived con-
structs then provided a mechanism for exploring how tourists discrimi-
nate between the ORIA and nature based attractions in terms of their
affective response.
At the third stage, a second survey was conducted to examine the
elements in terms of the 20 derived constructs. This was achieved using
a repertory grid. A ratings technique was used to scale the gird, thereby
uncovering the relationship between elements and constructs. For
533WAITT, LANE AND HEAD
each element, respondents scored the 20 derived constructs on a six
point bipolar scale, according to their perceived level of agreement or
disagreement. No midpoint option was provided for participants. This
decision was taken deliberately to eliminate the possibilities of respon-
dents mistaking the middle of the scale as "not applicable", or
"neither", or "both" scaled items. A pilot survey (5 respondents) sug-
gested that to evaluate 13 attractions by 20 evaluative constructs would
seriously overtax interviewees' patience. Therefore, each questionnaire
included a random selection of only 10 images. The instrument also
sought information on respondent tourism motivation (Pearce and
Caltabiano 1983), holidaymaker classification (Yiannakis and Gibson
1992), tourism information sources, and sociodemographic back-
grounds.
The second survey was conducted daily for a two-week period in May
1999, the beginning of the dry season, within Kununurra's backpacker
accommodation, caravan, and camp-sites. These locations have two jus-
tifications. In practical terms, they provided shaded, cool, and comfort-
able venues in which tourists were relaxed and most willing to engage
in completing a lengthy questionnaire, rather than in Kununurra or
at attractions. Equally, these venues also provided sites from which to
draw a representative sample from a constantly changing population.
Over 1,2000 tourists were invited to participate. A target sample of
400 completed the questionnaire, giving a response rate of less than
33%. Once again the target sample contained equal numbers by gen-
der and above and below 40 years of age. Constrained by the target
quota's characteristics, the sampling procedure involved inviting eli-
gible persons within these sites to participate in the survey. Refusal
occurred for a variety of reasons including "not interested" (412, 34%),
"no time" (159, 13%), "spoil vacation" (112, 9%) and "have completed
another survey" (23, 2%). Without any information about those who
declined the invitation, it is not known whether the survey contains a
nonresponse bias. However, from observations, older males, parti-
cularly those who voiced an intense scorn for academia and research
are absent from this survey.
Of the 400 returned questionnaires, 338 were useable, 47 were
incomplete, and 15 contained incorrect entries. The location and tim-
ing help to explain why those tourists who gave their consent to partici-
pate handled the substantial task of completing the survey without
overt resistance or apparent respondent fatigue. The instruments were
distributed through accommodation sites at "quiet" times, mainly
between the hours of 3 pm and 6 pm, when people were relaxing with
nothing much else to do. Outside this period, tourists were too actively
engaged in various pursuits or socializing to be concerned about filling
in an extensive questionnaire.
Once a respondent has completed a repertory grid for a particular
element, a matrix of scores can be calculated for each construct. In
mathematical terms, each repertory grid forms a vector matrix that
corresponds to the "cognitive set" of preferences for each participant.
(Ward and Russel 1981). The cognitive set is the conceptual structure
in a person's mind within which environmental stimuli are assessed.
534 NATURE-BASED TOURISM
Each attraction is positioned within the rows and columns of the
matrix defined by the respondent's evaluation of each construct's
strength of presence or absence within their own cognitive set.
The repertory grid for an individual can be mathematically com-
bined with those from other respondents to form an aggregated
"supergrid" containing the mean scores or ratings for groups of
people. Kalekin-Fishman and Walker (1996) provide a detailed argu-
ment for applying the principles of personal construct theory to indi-
viduals and groups with equal ease. Construction of the supergrid and
its subsequent analyses was conducted using multidimensional scaling,
which is somewhat similar to principal components analysis, specifically
the replicated multidimensional unfolding solution available in the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). This technique
examines the disparities among elements of the supergrid and uses
them to create an n-dimensional space, which correspond to the aggre-
gate personal constructs used to differentiate between environmental
stimuli (Harrison and Sarre 1976). The first two bipolar dimensions,
producing a two-dimensional space explained a high proportion of the
variance in all grids. Using the loadings as coordinates, the elements
were plotted in relationship to the two axes. This two-dimensional plot
of point elements (attractions) corresponds to the cognitive set com-
mon to the subjects (Ward and Russel 1981). The configuration of this
space is such that the distances among the point elements correspond
to the disparities and similarities among the elements as recorded in
the repertory supergrid. Labeling these dimensions is an extremely
subjective process. Nevertheless, the loadings on the first dimensions
suggest a pattern that might be labeled "domesticated-natural". Like-
wise, the second dimension seems appropriately described by the
bipolar label "dangerous-safe".
Study Results
Characteristics of the sample are shown in Table 1. Age, gender and
education evenly divide the sample, other than a slight under represen-
tation among persons in the 35-44 age cohort, due perhaps to the
survey coinciding with the school-term. Respondents are primarily Aus-
tralian, almost evenly distributed between Victoria (49, 14.5%), New
South Wales (47, 16%) and Western Australia (44, 15.1%). Inter-
national tourists came predominantly from Europe (99, 30%), with
two-thirds of these from the United Kingdom (63, 18.6%). Occu-
pationally, respondents are drawn from diverse socioeconomic circum-
stances (Table 1).
As shown in Table 2, respondents are united by their self-
identification as independent tourists; that is, they share a common
desire to visit attractions but to make their own travel arrangements,
often "playing it by ear". Tourists' major sources of information were
from guidebooks, especially the Lonely Planet Guide (14%). Learning
from another person was also important. Among domestic tourists in
particular, television was also a principal information source, especially
535WAITT, LANE AND HEAD
Table 1. Respondents' Characteristics
Respondent's Characteristics
Annual <8,000 8­15,000 15­25,000 25­35,000 >35,000 Total
Income
(US after tax) 123 62 (18%) 68 (20%) 22 (6%) 18 (5%) 293(87%)
(36%)
Occupation Retired Student Unemployed Home Blue Collar White Total
Duties Collar
99 (29%) 23 (7%) 90 (27%) 26 (8%) 30 (9%) 67 (20%) 335 (99%)
Gender Male Female Total
153 (47%) 164 (50%) 338 (100%)
Highest Primary/Secondary Tertiary Total
Education 161 (47%) 164 (49%) 325 (96%)
Tourist Domestic International Total
Market Total: 203 Total: 135 338 (100%)
(60%) (40%)
Age 18­44 45->65 Total
(years) 169 (50%) 160 (47%) 329 (97%)
travel programs such as Getaway (8%) and documentaries such as The
Bushtucker Man, and The Malcolm Douglas Adventure Series.
Rank motivation scores shown in Table 2 confirm Pearce and Caltab-
iano's (1983) assertion that people have more than one travel objec-
tive. This table suggests the emergence of four intentions of almost
equal importance: to develop relationships, to be stimulated, to relax,
and to develop self-esteem. Statistical tests (Wilks Lamda) suggest that
gender, age, and occupational differences in motivation were signifi-
cant. Males, for example, were more motivated by the desire for adven-
ture while females sought people's histories, particularly those of
indigenous cultures, where F-value was found to equal 0.87 (df=19,
p=0.014). By age cohorts, a Bonferroni­Dunn post hoc test suggests the
significance (F - value=0.55, df=95, p=0.001) can be attributed to three
distinct categories of motivation. The youngest expressed the greatest
desire to test their physical abilities. The middle-aged were more mot-
ivated by a desire to relax. Self-esteem and a desire to gain a sense of
fulfillment motivated the elderly. By occupation, a Bonferroni­Dun
post hoc test suggests that the statistical significance
(F - value=0.49, df=114, p=0.001) is attributed to those employed in
"white collar" occupations being most likely to express relaxation as a
very important motivation. In contrast, student and unemployed occu-
pational categories showed greater affinity with a sense of adventure
and discovery. Their accomplishment is not a solo pursuit. The most
important motivation was to develop relationship with friends, partners
and others. Apparently, sharing the experiences with others is as
important as the experience itself.
536 NATURE-BASED TOURISM
Table 2. Tourist Characteristics
Tourist Motivations, Classifications and Information Source
Mean Motivation Scoresa
Highest Relationships 4.5
Stimulation 4.4
Relaxation 4.2
Self-esteem 4.2
Lowest Fulfillment 3.3
Ranked Holiday-maker Classifications
Independent Tourist Explorer Escapist
Rank 1 162 (48%) 74 (22%) 47 (14%)
Rank 2 71 (21%) 71 (21%) 71 (21%)
Rank 3 27 (8%) 53 (16%) 52 (15%)
Total 260 (77%) 198 (59%) 170 (50%)
Ranked Information Sources
Travel Books/Guides Word of Television Newspaper Adverts.
Mouth
Rank 1b
177 (57.8%) 62 (18%) 70 (23%) 47 (13%) 30 (9%)
Rank 2 103 (33.7%) 185 (54%) 70 (23%) 55 (16%) 47 (13%)
Rank 3 26 (8.5%) 73 (21%) 165 (54%) 197 (58%) 216 (64%)
Total 306 (90%) 310 (92%) 305 (90%) 299 (88%) 293 (87%)
Comparative Ranks of Travel Books/Guides as a Tourism Information Source
Domestic International
Rank 1b
93 (53.1%) 84 (64.1%)
Rank 2 61 (34.9%) 42 (32.1%)
Rank 3 21 (12%) 5 (3.8%)
Comparative Ranks of Television as a Tourism Information Source
Domestic International
Rank 1b
60 (33.9%) 10 (7.8%)
Rank 2 48 (27.1%) 22 (17.2%)
Rank 3 69 (39%) 96 (75%)
a
The mean motivation score was calculated by averaging respondents' scores on an attitudinal Likert
scale for several question, where 1 is strongly disagree and 6 is strongly agree.
b
Information sources were ranked according to the scale: Rank 1 (very important), Rank 2 (slightly
important) and Rank 3 (not important).
Tourists' Appraisal of the ORIA
Results from the replicated multidimensional unfolding solution
analysis of the supergrid examining the disparities between each
respondent for their evaluation of the 13 elements by the 20 constructs
(Figure 2) created a two dimensional perceptual space (r2
= 0.72). The
dimensional ranges of this space correspond to the aggregate personal
constructs used to differentiate between the attractions.
As also can be seen from Figure 2, the 13 attractions are widely dis-
tributed across the area of 2-dimensional space, suggesting that the
key evaluative constructs effectively describe the range of perceptions
provided by the marketing materials. Within the 2-dimensional space,
given that the distribution pattern corresponds to the disparities
among elements as recorded in the repertory supergrid, distances
537WAITT, LANE AND HEAD
Key Elements: C Crocodile, A Aboriginal Australians, BB Bungle Bungles, MP Mitchell Pla-
teau, BO Boab, LA Lake Argyle, AD Argyle Dam, Bl Billabong, W Wallaby, BL Birdlife,
F Fishing, P Pastoralism, IA Irrigated Agriculture
Figure 2. The Repertory Grid for all Respondents
among the tourism attractions suggests that irrigated agriculture is per-
ceived differently from the Argyle Dam, which is again perceived differ-
ently from both the Bungle Bungles and Aboriginal Australians. How-
ever, certain point elements are also shown to cluster. Therefore, their
close positioning in perceptual space suggests that each forms part of
a common cognitive set. For example, the Argyle Dam, Lake Argyle,
billabong, and wallaby share the cognitive sets defined by the "natural"
and "safety" dimensions. Other examples are the cognitive sets of
"domesticated" and "safety", shared by both irrigated agriculture and
fishing. The Mitchell Plateau and the Bungle Bungles share a common
cognitive set of "natural" and "adventure".
Such results would appear to confirm arguments that nature's frame
of reference has been expanded by marketing materials to incorporate
the dam and its associated waterways, despite it being Australia's largest
human-made structure. Such results are perhaps not surprising given
that nature-based tourism drew on a reservoir of representations that
since its construction have portrayed the dam as "natural". For
example, at its opening ceremony, Premier Tonkin of Western Aus-
tralia commented that the wall was as unobtrusive as a goanna on a
rock and that "it will not be very long before it merges into the general
landscape of the Carr-Boyd Ranges as if it were here quite naturally"
(quoted in Arthur 1997:45). In reference to such comments, it is
argued that European colonization simply brought the finishing
touches to the landscape, as if on some eighth day of creation. The
lake is naturally beautiful because it was always meant to be present
538 NATURE-BASED TOURISM
(Arthur 1997:46). In contrast, the process of naturalization of human
activities has not spilled over to affect the experience of the irrigation
scheme's domesticated agricultural landscape.
Since the 80s, while the irrigated agricultural landscapes have been
almost exclusively ignored by local tour operators, the spillways, reser-
voirs, diversion dams, and wetlands have been marketed as an integral
part of the "wilderness experience". Including the lakes within nature's
frame of reference has currency with tourism because extensive yet
artificial water bodies (when constructed as wilderness and natural
beauty) can be sold as a setting for sport, fishing, adventure, ecology,
and romantic sunset tours. No such immediate justification existed for
the irrigated landscapes.
To explore further whether these constructions of the ORIA are con-
stant across the tourist population, additional analyses were conducted.
The replicated multidimensional unfolding solution was utilized to
ascertain whether patterns of discrimination existed across appraisals
when differentiated by gender, holidaymaker classification, country of
residence, and sources of information. As shown in Figure 3, the per-
ceptual space according to gender is remarkably similar to the collec-
tive perceptual space. A strong resemblance exists between the distri-
bution and clustering of point elements in the 2-dimensional
perceptual space defined by cognitive sets. Parallel results were also
seen in the resulting perceptual space when the population was differ-
entiated by motivation and by holidaymaker classification. Regardless
Key Elements: See figure 2
Figure 3. The Repertory Grids for Male and Female Respondents
539WAITT, LANE AND HEAD
of the latter two and gender, the irrigated agriculture is appraised,
along with fishing and pastoralism, as familiar and domesticated. In
strong contrast, the appraisal of the Argyle Dam clusters with billa-
bongs and rock wallabies, suggesting the dam has become naturalized.
However, as shown in Figure 4, there is a striking difference between
the 2-dimensional perceptual spaces of international and domestic
tourists. The former's pattern of point elements in perceptual space
differed little from that of the total population. In contrast, domestic
tourists were only able to perceive differences between crocodiles and
the Bungle Bungles, appraised as both "dangerous" and "natural". The
remaining attractions, including human activities, ORIA artifacts, land-
forms, flora and fauna, were appraised within cognitive sets as being
both relatively "safe" and "natural".
Perhaps such apparent contradictory perceptions may have some-
thing to do with the relative familiarity of The Kimberley in the Aus-
tralian collective imagining as the "last frontier". In Australian outback
mythology, agricultural activities are quite legitimate. No cognitive dif-
ficulties arise from imagining outback landscapes as containing vast
pastoral stations, homesteads, windmills, and drovers. Indeed their
presence signifies the mythical transformation of wilderness into a
"productive" landscape. Yet, even as outback mythology incorporates
the pastoral industry, the wilderness remains ever present. This is a
liminal space, where history is always just about to start. Pastoralism's
connections with the land always remain tenuous.
A review of the guidebooks suggest that an awareness of this fragile
Figure 4. The Repertory Grid for Domestic and International Respondents
540 NATURE-BASED TOURISM
connection with the land is generated in part through the wide circu-
lation of the frontier myth in both Australian electronic and print
media. Cited guides highlight the unique environment, the hazards of
European pastoralism, agriculture and horticulture, as well as an itiner-
ary of activities. To explore whether guidebooks constrained domestic
tourists' appraisal, the second survey data was further analyzed. Figure
5 shows the results of a replicated multidimensional unfolding solution
for domestic respondents who indicated guidebooks were a very
important knowledge source. The distribution of point elements in the
2-dimensional perceptual space suggests that respondents who have
read guidebooks do appraise the Kimberley differently from the total
population. Irrigated agriculture and fishing are appraised as "natu-
ral", along with all other elements, confirming that the presence of
certain human activities is still consistent with the frontier myth.
As shown in Table 2, television was also an important source of infor-
mation, particularly among domestic tourists. A review of the television
programs' content most commonly cited suggests that the Kimberley
is regarded as the immersion in an unspoiled and, by implication, pris-
tine nature. To explore whether these programs also constrained dom-
estic tourists' landscape appraisal, a replicated multidimensional
unfolding solution analysis was undertaken. As can be seen from Figure
5, those Australian respondents who watched the programs appraised
all the elements within the confines of the frontier myth. The patterns
of point elements within the 2-dimensional perceptual space suggest
domestic tourists appraised all elements, with the exception of croco-
diles, within the same cognitive set. The remaining elements, including
Figure 5. The Repertory Grids for Television and Guidebooks
541WAITT, LANE AND HEAD
the Argyle Dam and irrigated agriculture, were appraised as not only
more familiar, but also apparently "natural" attractions. Again, the
frontier myth provides a potential explanation for this apparent natu-
ralization of the dam and irrigated agriculture. Their presence at the
frontier becomes essential in the mythical transformation of wilderness
into a domesticated landscape.
CONCLUSION
The aim of this paper was to explore the role of tourism imagery in
informing appraisals of the Kimberley. In particular the paper
addressed the role of promotional imagery in overcoming the seeming
contradictions presented by the ORIA in a region focused upon
nature-based tourism. Within the western nature/human binary con-
structions, the irrigation scheme's agriculture, reservoirs, and dam lie
outside nature's frame of reference. A potential threat to nature-based
tourism is the presence of Australia's largest artifact. Personal construct
theory provided an established methodology to examine the apparent
contradictions between irrigation schemes and nature-based tourism
activities. To this end, a four-stage examination was undertaken.
The repertory grid analysis identified a 2-dimensional perceptual
space for the Kimberley, with the two aggregate personal constructs
influencing perceptions within this space labeled "domesticated" ver-
sus "natural" and "safe" versus "dangerous". Repertory grid analyses
suggest that regardless of how respondents are categorized, they per-
ceive both the Argyle Dam and Lake Argyle in a similar fashion to
billabongs, wallabies, and bird-life, as part of the "natural" landscape.
Apparently, the tourism industry has successfully naturalized the dam
and reservoir, dissolving the human/nature binary. This confirms
Dann's (1996) argument regarding the crucial role of in guiding view-
ers to a particular understanding of their surroundings. In answer to
Selwyn's (1996) question, it would appear that in this case tourists are
"suckers for the surfaces of the tourism brochure". The imagery texts
would appear to play an integral role in closing different social con-
structions of the ORIA, particularly those anti-dam portrayals offered
by conservationists, pastoralists, and indigenous Australians who wit-
nessed the extensive drowning of country (Bulla, in Shaw 1986:171­
2). Appraised as natural, both the dam and reservoir help to sustain
the symbiotic relationship established between tourism and agriculture
constructed by the pro-dam economic and political literature. There-
fore, the water systems that will supply Ord Stage Two pose no threat
to tourism.
The irrigated agriculture, however, is experienced quite differently.
Overall, tourists appraise the irrigated agriculture in terms of a human
landscape, familiar and mundane. In this instance, the human/nature
binary actively defines the boundaries of nature-based tourism. The
results suggest that when understood in terms of a familiar human
activity, expansion of the irrigated agriculture area may indeed be con-
trary to the industry's interests. The threat does not come from dimin-
ishing sites currently visited. The proposed irrigated agriculture is on
542 NATURE-BASED TOURISM
alluvial plains with no present attractions. However, tourists will have
to travel through this extensive irrigated agricultural system as part of
their journey through Northwest Australia or to visit specific attractions
(Figure 1). The potential threat of extending the area of irrigation-
fed agriculture is one of geographical imagination. How can tourists
reconcile a coherent place-image for a region in which agriculture,
which they understand as mundane and domesticated, coincides with
a nature-based tourism industry trading on experiences of "natural"
and "wild places"?
Yet, how the irrigated areas are perceived is complicated by quite
distinct patterns of component scores between domestic and inter-
national tourists. The latter retained a similar perceptual space to the
overall appraisal, resulting in conflicting cognition of agriculture and
nature-based tourism. However, with the exception of landscapes feat-
uring the Bungle Bungles and crocodiles, domestic tourists' configur-
ation of the perceptual space demonstrated an inability to differentiate
the region's attractions from one another. All other attractions, includ-
ing the irrigated agriculture, were experienced as "natural". Such
apparent contradictions may themselves be explained within the con-
text of the familiarity among Australians of the frontier myth, perpetu-
ated by the industry in television programs and guide books. Indeed,
the characteristic of assigning all sites to the "natural" dimension is
demonstrated in the component score patterns of those respondents
who acknowledged the importance of television as an information
source. The Kimberley, according to the frontier myth's linear narra-
tive, is a marginal location outside of the ambit of human society.
Instantly, the whole location becomes imagined as wild and empty, a
remnant of primal nature. Agricultural practices are understood as an
integral, yet tenuous part of the uniquely Australian outback lifestyle.
Tourism is sustained by experiences. For the Kimberley, the chal-
lenge presented by the proposed Ord Stage Two is the intensifying
contradictory appraisals of irrigated agricultural landscapes on the one
hand, and part of the Australian frontier myth, on the other. This
contradiction has particular resonance for those international and
domestic tourists least familiar with the Australian frontier myth. For
them the irrigated landscape was understood as both domesticated and
safe; further extension of irrigated agriculture may only contradict
their experience of an escape to a wild place. Marketing can augment
such potentially contradictory experiences. In the Kimberley, the
government and the tourism industry have successfully portrayed the
landscapes of ORIA as natural, even if they are artificial. Clearly, the
Western Australian and Northern Territory governments, in their
enthusiasm to proceed with Ord Stage Two and to extend irrigated
agricultural landscapes, must also consider a regional tourism market-
ing strategy. Increased exposure to the frontier myth may help assure
that future tourists, particularly from overseas, will experience the
changing landscapes of the ORIA as a wild and natural place. However,
such a colonizing myth while making agriculture unproblematic, sus-
tains notions of Australia as terra nullius, casts Aboriginals in the essen-
tialistic gaze of romantic primitivism and promotes environmental
543WAITT, LANE AND HEAD
determinism as an explanation of national identity. The heroic and
primitive simplicity of the frontier myth may sustain a flow of tourism
revenue to the region. However, fashioning the Kimberley to meet this
demand maintains representations of Australia to both national and
overseas audiences through the cracked mirror of the Anglo-Celtic
gaze. A
Acknowledgements--Funding for this project was from the Environmental Research Insti-
tute, University of Wollongong. The authors are indebted to the helpful and constructive
comments provided by Murray Wilson.
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Submitted 27 March 2001. Resubmitted 30 May 2002. Resubmitted 17 June 2002. Accepted
25 June 2002. Refereed anonymously. Coordinating Editor: Bob McKercher