BOB PORTER – A PIONEER OF TOURISM IN THE WHITSUNDAYS.

For those who can still remember the Whitsundays in the 1960s, the name “Porter” comes to mind in any discussion about the early tourist development of the area. Most people, however, are not aware of the extent of the contribution made by the Porter family to tourism and the significant role they played in placing Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays on the map as one of Australia’s leading tourist destinations.

The Porters were not wealthy people. They were modest, hard-working and community minded. They faced many hardships but always maintained their positivity about the future of this district. They were humble about their achievements and sought no accolades.

How it all began …

George and Thelma Porter arrived in Proserpine from Auguthella in 1949 with children, Bob (8) and Helene (Lane) (5). They purchased a newsagency/jewellery business in the early 50s and lived in the residence above the business in Main Street. The children attended St Catherine’s school then went to Brisbane for their secondary education - Bob attended Nudgee College and Lane went to Lourdes Hill.

The Porters were the first travel agents in the district, becoming agents for Queensland Tourist Bureau and they also continued with TAA as part of their business. Proserpine Airport had opened in 1951 and a daily DC3 operated between Brisbane and Proserpine. Porters’ Travel drove the success of the inaugural flights into the Whitsunday region.  

Bob Porter embraces and expands the family business …

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When Bob finished school in year 10, he started working in the family business, Porters’ Travel. Then, when his uncle, Doug Robinson, went overseas for twelve months, Bob moved to Brisbane to manage his uncle’s jewellery business in Edward Street. There he became interested in gemmology and studied to achieve the appropriate qualifications in Australia and Britain and then, after two years, he went to America to obtain the equivalent American qualification which allowed him to work in that country for a few months. Bob became one of Australia’s most highly qualified gem experts at the time.
Before returning home, Bob travelled through England and Europe and returned full of enthusiasm and ideas as to how to improve the family business. By this time, his sister, Lane, was also working in the business, having joined upon leaving school.
Bob’s interest in the travel and jewellery aspects of the business resulted in its diversification such that the jewellery and travel businesses were shifted into a new shop in Deicke’s Arcade in the main street of Proserpine in 1967 and the newsagency was sold. George and Thelma had owned that business for twenty years, working long hours, seven days a week from 8am to 9pm and closing only for Christmas Day and Good Friday.

The Porter family was very involved in the port at Shute Harbour. In the late 1950s, George was part of a group of 39 interested people who walked the track through rainforest from Airlie Beach to Shute Harbour. It was a familiarisation trek to gain firsthand information for a probable road and to inspect the harbour. Cyclone Connie (1959) was the catalyst for the construction of the road to Shute Harbour; a safe harbour accessible in all weather conditions. George Porter was instrumental in establishing this road which became a reality in 1961.

It was after the construction of the road that the Porters obtained the first lease in Shute Harbour and subsequently built the first kiosk there in 1967. They organised day trips, island bookings and sold clothing and souvenirs. Some locals believed that Bob was wasting the family’s money by initiating this move. Builder, Harry Muller told Thelma, “You know, Thelma, people will never come to Shute Harbour,” but he was proven wrong. The “Australasian Post” (December 26 1985) reported, “Shute Harbour is Australia’s second busiest port, close behind Sydney.” Bob was clearly a man of foresight.

In 1968, TAA purchased the Whitsunday Airport. Small feeder planes operated from the Shute Harbour Airport and connected with larger planes in Mackay and Townsville. The Porter family were active in the management and the operation of the Whitsunday Airport in conjunction with their kiosk at Shute Harbour.
Perhaps the turning point for tourism in the Whitsundays was in 1970 when Bob spearheaded the construction of the very first tourist resort on the mainland, Whitsunday Village, where Magnums is now situated. This multi-million dollar resort was built in less than a decade and was the first do-it-yourself holiday apartment accommodation in the Queensland travel industry.  This was followed in 1982 by the construction of the Whitsunday Terraces; a five terraced building of 62 units. Bob was involved in many other projects including Wanderers Paradise Resort.
An original member of the advisory committee for the Queensland Tourist Corporation, Bob constantly met travel agents from around the world. He was instrumental in arranging the first P&O cruise ship to call at the Whitsundays and anchoring at CID Harbour and he then arranged for local tourist operators to take boat guests on day trips to the outer reef and local islands.
Bob Porter was tenacious in all matters of tourism. Thanks to his dogged persistence, Proserpine is known as the Gateway to the Whitsundays – not Mackay, as tourism organisations in that town had tried to assert.  
Bob was always up for a new challenge. He recognised that only 4% of international visitors came to the Whitsundays and set the promotional ball rolling to attract travellers from the growing American market. In a novel idea, he fitted out a 17 metre yacht, a former pearling lugger built in 1901, as a floating advertisement for all of Queensland and began voyaging down the coast to Sydney and Melbourne marketing and promoting all of our tourist resorts.
Such a busy man and yet he still had time for fun! Bob and his friend, Allan Southwood, instigated the first ever Whitsunday Fun Race in Airlie Beach which was the precursor for the boat races run in the Whitsundays today. One day, Bob and Allan were sailing in the Whitsundays on their respective vessels – Bob’s old pearling lugger called “Dahlia” and Alan’s boat called the “Torres Herald”. They decided that they would race back to Airlie Beach and the loser would give the winner a bottle of rum. And so, the Whitsunday Fun Race was born; a race which is now quite possibly one of the largest annual events in the Whitsundays and a great drawcard for the area.

As time went by, the family divested itself of its business interests in the area. Bob eventually moved to Brisbane in the mid to late 70s however he continued promoting the Whitsundays and operating his travel business.
When Bob Porter passed away in November 2007, Queensland tourism lost a man of vision and one of its most passionate Whitsunday supporters.
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The Porter Legacy …

Bob Porter and parents, George and Thelma, made a significant economic and charitable contribution to the Whitsundays. The legacy left by the Porter family is something that we all enjoy today – a world-class tourist destination that is Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays; a destination far removed from the Airlie Beach of the 50s and 60s when it was merely a collection of modest weekend “shacks”.
Since first being honoured in 2013, through Tourism Whitsundays’ annual presentation of The Bob Porter Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Individual, the man with the distinctive head of curly hair and charismatic smile continues to be acknowledged for his remarkable contribution to tourism and development in the Whitsundays.

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