Myrtle Wilt and the Great Ocean Road Tourism Industry
Myrtle Wilt has implications for Cool Temperate Rainforest tourism attractions throughout the entire Otway region due to the air dispersal nature of the Myrtle Wilt fungus.
Such impacts have implications for rainforest tourist attractions in the Otway National Park and State Forest in the Otways.
The Cool Temperate Rainforest at Maits Rest in the National Park has significant economic value to the local tourism industry. Each year hundreds of thousands of domestic and international tourists who drive along the Great Ocean Road visit Maits Rest. Tourism Victoria has stated that the Great Ocean Road is worth one billion dollars a year in tourism expenditure.
Other Otway rainforest tourist attractions threatened by Myrtle wilt include Melba Gully, Triplet Falls and Aire Crossing. [Map of Otway rainforest tourist attractions]
This old growth Myrtle Beech at Maits Rest in the Otway National Park is a focal point of the tourist walk. Will this tree soon die from myrtle wilt?
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