How tourism promotion of serious wilderness walks can reshape risk perception in dangerous ways
This week, Tourism Australia posted a reel on Instagram promoting Tasmania’s Western Arthur Range Traverse. The caption encouraged viewers to visit as a way to boost their “daily step count.”
It’s a good example of how a single caption can misrepresent an entire environment.
The Western Arthurs is not a step-count destination. It’s a 58-kilometre remote wilderness traverse rated Grade 5 under the Australian Walking Track Grading System. That’s the highest classification. Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service warns walkers to expect steep cliffs, exposed rock, difficult navigation, heavy packs and unpredictable weather. The warning goes further: “Bushwalkers have died attempting this track.” The most recent fatality was in 2024.
After being contacted by ABC News, Tourism Australia updated the caption to include a link to the PWS website. The grade and experience requirements were still not mentioned.
This isn’t about one post
I’m not writing this to single out Tourism Australia. I’ve raised similar concerns with tourism agencies before and the response is usually some version of the same thing: they don’t want to scare people, because their job is to encourage visitation.
I understand that tension. But I think it misreads the problem.
Adding “recommended for highly experienced bushwalkers only” or “Grade 5 remote wilderness traverse” to a caption does not scare off the right visitors. It calibrates expectations. It helps people prepare properly. And for the visitors who do go, that preparation directly improves their experience.
There’s also a broader message here. Australia telling visitors “this place is serious, here’s what you need to know” is not a warning that discourages visitation. It’s a signal that Australia takes your safety seriously. That’s a good look for any destination.
Accurate framing doesn’t weaken the appeal of these places. It strengthens credibility with exactly the audience best suited to them.
Social media has changed how people find serious walks
This is the part that matters most.
Traditionally, places like the Western Arthurs reached people through bushwalking clubs, guidebooks, mentorship, and progressive experience development. Those pathways weren’t perfect, but they naturally provided context. Difficulty, terrain, required skills, personal preparedness. The environment came with a filter built in.
Short-form social media bypasses many of those traditional filters. I’ve written about this broader dynamic before. A Grade 5 wilderness traverse can now appear in the same feed as a coastal walk, presented through the same aspirational visual language. The format itself compresses perceived risk. A perfect weather day, a boardwalk section, a stunning view. What’s left out is everything that matters most.
As Bushwalking Australia vice president Ross Stephens put it in the ABC article: “If the first time you’ve heard about it is through Instagram, then you’re not the right person to be doing that walk.”
That’s exactly right. And it points to where the responsibility sits, not just with individual hikers, but with the agencies and platforms doing the promoting.
Inspiration and context can coexist
Australia’s remote wilderness is extraordinary and absolutely worth promoting. The Western Arthurs deserves to be celebrated. So does every other serious wilderness environment this country has to offer.
But celebrating a place and contextualising it are not opposites. A single sentence can do both.
The audiences most drawn to genuine wilderness experiences, the ones who will have the best time and come back safely, are exactly the people who want accurate information. They’re not scared off by “Grade 5.” They’re drawn to it.
Framing serious walks accurately isn’t a risk to tourism. It’s a service to it.
