Great Ocean Road Project
Designing a newly established visitor centre to promote and inform visitors of lesser-known places in the Great Ocean Road and shape richer cultural identities to create informed interpretations and representations generated by its visitors and locals.
Introduction.
Tourism is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can bring booming business opportunities in the economic and social development of destinations. On the other hand, the fragile ecological environment will be permanently destroyed by their irresponsible behaviour.
"Overtourism" would cause bad tour experiences and terribly environmental pollution such as rubbish everywhere, traffic issues and overcrowding. In fact, international tourists only want to experience the local culture through tourism, but the irony is that the more popular the attraction, the more commercial it is. Only a few people know and visit historical buildings and aboriginal cultural spots. This situation would make visitors feel the meaning of travelling starts to be more than a little lost.
"Overtourism" would cause bad tour experiences and terribly environmental pollution such as rubbish everywhere, traffic issues and overcrowding. In fact, international tourists only want to experience the local culture through tourism, but the irony is that the more popular the attraction, the more commercial it is. Only a few people know and visit historical buildings and aboriginal cultural spots. This situation would make visitors feel the meaning of travelling starts to be more than a little lost.
Visitor Experience Centre.
The visitor experience centre serves to promote lesser-known places to tourists in an immersive and experiential manner. The structure itself combines rippled glass façade and formed concrete, and its form reflects those of the twelve apostles in order to capture the attention of tourists. It provides an open space plan for its informative services as well as a darkroom for its interactive exhibition.
Weather Sensory Lab.
The interactive weather lab showcases the current weather and future forecast of each destination on the Great Ocean Road by providing people multiple sensory experiences (images and films, sound, smell). It can assist tourists to avoid the bad weather condition and also provide information on suggested activities under the different weather.
Real-time Gallery.
The gallery provides a space for photograph lovers to share. Tourists could take real-time photos as they visit lesser-known places. These photos are then sent directly to the Visitor Experience Centre and displayed to future tourists. It aims at increasing local engagement to strengthen the connection between locals and visitors, and also visually promote more information to positively change the perception of tourists on Great Ocean Road.
Tour Van Service.
The electric tour vans arranged from centre can lead tourists to arrive at less-known places where also have small visitor stations. Each van can contain 8-12 people and the centre would provide a local tour guide for tourists to introduce the culture and drive them to the places. It can make centre easily control the number of tourists and reduce carbon emissions. Also, it can provide more job opportunities for local people as tour guides, and also bring positive perception and more understanding about local culture for visitors.
Visitor Stations.
The visitor stations adapt the rock shape and apply wave shape at the bottom to emphasize the disappearance of the 12 Apostles. Geometric shapes are applied to blend with the environment and also bring awareness to nature to respect the indigenous. The visitor stations are located in several cities along The Great Ocean Road. The stations would not just guide tourists to the less-known areas, but also to the exact location if they ever change their plans in the middle of the trip.
