For an Australian resort, it is “everything and anything goes” to entice visitors
To lure tourists, Australia is abiding by a new rule: anything goes.
Blaming the economic downturn, Tony Fox, owner of the unlikely named holiday resort White Cockatoo in Mossman, Queensland state, north Australia, said his resort has been fully booked for a proposed month-long "rainforest nude party" in March next year.
Backing the plan and eager to bring back economic activity, local mayor Val Schier, said, "I am not opposed to it as long as no laws are broken. As long as it is with consenting adults then there is no problem."
Fox's "clothes optional" resort also made headlines three years ago when his "partner-swapping parties" made headlines following public complaints, and subsequently ended by the police.
"It doesn't take rocket science to work out what the party means," Fox said, explaining further his plan for the proposed “risqué” party where “anything goes'” for a month. His holiday resort will be transformed to a “hedonism resort.” He said, "Tough economic times call for stiff measures."
The Catholic Bishop of Cairns, James Foley, however, questions if it will not create fights and jealousies among the participants. "You have got to wonder what sort of people go and why. Where is their moral code of behavior?"
All states and territories in Australia, except Queensland, have had designated clothing-optional beaches since South Australia declared the first, Maslin Beach near Adelaide, in 1975.
Australia, with its thousands of kilometers of deserted beaches, has a reputation for its nudist beach parties. Nude bathing occurs on a regular basis even on the most popular beaches. Some are designated as a legal clothing-optional beaches, but on others nudity is unofficially condoned, according to an Australia website 'guide' on nude beaches.
All states and territories in Australia, except Queensland, have had designated clothing-optional Australia's tourism industry has been hit hard by the global economic turmoil. Official figures show a drop of 7.6 percent in visitor arrivals in September, and industry leaders expect the year-end holiday bookings to further drop by up to a third early next year.
Australian tourism is banking on the worldwide publicity from the recently completed and highly-acclaimed movie epic “Australia” to bring back interest in Australia.
In 1986, the comedy film “Crocodile Dundee,” set in the Australian outback, became an Australian hero in the cinematic world with his three movies about an Australian “outback” let loose in New York city.
"People in tropical north Queensland are extraordinarily creative,” added Mayor Schier.
|
|
Comments
Post new comment