The Road Today

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Two hundred and fifty kilometres of this road was designated as a single destination in 2020 (following recommendations of a task force convened in 2017). It is now under the strategic management of a new Authority, the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA) and a new planning advisory body within the state Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

Before 2019, visitation was already beyond capacity; evidence of deterioration of sites along the road was impossible to ignore. Then in 2019 an extreme fire season overwhelmed Australia and devastated so much of the country. Those fires did not directly touch the Great Ocean Road (as they have in the past), but they did have a significant impact on inbound overseas tourism. By early 2020 the traffic on the road had dropped substantially (gone were almost all the busses and group-tours of overseas visitors). That reduction in visitor numbers was rapidly amplified by the restrictions introduced to deal with the Covid19 pandemic. Estimates suggest visitation was down by 95% in the August-November 2020 period.

This disruptive downturn in tourism has conflicting implications for shaping the future of the GOR. Tourism business along the road have fared badly. However, this ‘pause’ in visitation may help with the immensely complex task of ensuring a sustainable future for the road, which will now take place within the wider process of ‘post-Covid’ recovery. This gives extra time for action to ensure the GOR is not ‘loved to death’ (as is often the case for popular tourist destinations); extra time to develop innovative planning approaches and creative future visions.

“A living memorial.
A tourism drawcard.
A national treasure.”

Lily D'Ambrosio

Victoria's Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change

The challenge is truly significant. This ‘living memorial’ consists of a narrow coast-hugging road, projected (pre-COVID19) to see over 10,000 visitors per day; it is a national treasure (for its extraordinary historical, visual and ecological qualities); it is vulnerable to the forces of nature (from the erosive forces of the ocean and forest fire) which will be greatly amplified by the multiple impacts of climate change.

We know from global experience that the usual ‘least-bad’ models will not do more than prolong the deterioration of such a glorious place.

What the future of the GOR demands are radical ideas, new visions, bold proposals, that reject the very concept of extractive tourism for truly sustainable – regenerative and resilient – futures.