Making heritage in an Australian coastal tourist resort: Constructing a cultural landscape through a comparative narrative

The concept of cultural landscape embodies a dynamic understanding of history, in which past, present and future are seamlessly connected. This paper, drawn from a larger research project investigating the integration of tourism in small coastal settlements, introduces a multi-method research strategy for interpreting cultural landscapes of tourism. The case study of a well-known resort area on the east coast of Australia demonstrates the dynamic relationship between patterns in the landscape narrative and patterns in the built environment of small coastal settlements. In Noosa, a distinctive built form has evolved in parallel with the narrative of the place as a relaxed but stylish resort village dominated by nature. Both the narrative and physical landscape have been shaped by local and external processes of constant comparison and contrast with well known Australian and international coastal resorts. The paper illustrates how recurring themes in the local dialogue of place have flowed between key urban design/planning decisions, ephemeral tourism literature, publications, and the perceptions of residents, tourists and key informants as reported in focused conversational interviews.