Tuesday 7, Sep 2010
Mutli-Award winning Indigenous Tourism Business, Kooljaman at Cape Leveque has opened their new ‘Hub’ building which incorporates a reception, tour desk, restaurant, shop and art gallery including an interpretive cultural display.
The new Hub is situated in a first-class location overlooking the magnificent pindan cliffs and sunset beach. The Reception, Tour Desk and Interpretive display is open 7 days a week and staff are able to offer information on the local attractions and tours to visitors to the region. The Restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner and the kitchen team has created some delicious dishes.
Brian Lee, Chairman of Kooljaman at Cape Leveque said “Kooljaman is a great source of pride for the owning communities of Ardyaloon and Djarindjin. The commitment and hard work from community members has enabled Kooljaman to continue to develop this unique Aboriginal tourism Experience and expand its guest service facilities.
The new Hub will also provide future training opportunities for our young people.”
“The Bardi people are salt water people, who are able to offer tourists a unique opportunity to learn about traditional fishing methods and participate in a range of ocean based cultural activities in a beautiful seaside environment.”
The accommodation options at Kooljaman include traditional palm frond shelters for camping, luxury Safari Tents and Cabins made out of bush poles.
History:
“The Hub” is a multi function facility at Kooljaman bringing together the reception and tour desk facility, restaurant, shop, and art gallery including an Interpretative cultural awareness area.
Kooljaman’s Vision Statement
“Kooljaman will provide a superior unique tourism product, presenting the opportunity for guests to interact respectfully with this unique landscape and culture, bringing forth economic independence and pride for the whole community”.
Kooljaman is 100% owned by the local indigenous communities of One Arm Point and Djarindjin ; as such all of their operations are purely centred on benefiting and respecting the local Aboriginal communities and their culture. These benefits include empowerment, involvement, employment, training and financial returns including direct dividend payments.
The completion and launch of this project will positively enhance the commercial, cultural and employment prospects for the people residing in the surrounding indigenous communities by streamlining the mentoring process enabling trainees and local staff to use their time at Kooljaman as either a stepping stone to future employment or take on supervisory and management roles within the business.
In 2009 The Directors of Kooljaman decided to step away from the State and National Tourism awards having won Best Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander owned Tourism Business 3 years running (twice consecutive) putting us into the Hall of Fame again and best Eco tourism facility at State and national level for 3 years running and again into the Hall of Fame. It was the desire of the board to re-invent and relaunch the business with bigger and better cultural awareness and facilities for the fast growing tourism industry on the Dampier Peninsular.
Kooljaman now boasts the only 2C survey glass bottom boat in Australia enabling us to conduct culturally educational coastal exploration and whale watching tours. We also make the boat available for the local community schools for excursions and conduct charter work for international students coming to the area to study local cultural and cultural exchange programmes. ‘Australia’s North West Destination Development Strategy 2006-2016 identified a number of iconic gaps within the tourism industry in the region, it was the goal of the Directors while re inventing the business to cater for modern tourists expectations and cover the gaps listed in the fore mentioned report.
The Kooljaman Directors now feel with the launch of “The Hub” facility and the glass bottom boat the business is ready to involve itself in the State Tourism Awards again and reinstate a stronghold in the Western Australian Tourism industry.
For more information, please visit the Kooljaman website:
www.kooljaman,com.au
