It's dangerous to rely too heavily on an industry such as mining, says an Aboriginal tourism company seeking to pull East Arnhem Land out from under the shadow of Rio Tinto's impending closure of the Gove alumina refinery.
But Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land will create hundreds of jobs and forge their own economic future beyond the scope of mining, says Djawa Burarrwanga, chairman of Lirrwi Yolngu Tourism Aboriginal Corporation.
"Whatever the future holds in the resources sector, our communities will benefit most from developing our own businesses and creating our own sources of income," Mr Burarrwanga said in a statement.
The region has been too slow to diversify, Lirrwi Tourism spokesman John Morse says.
"The closure of the processing plant has been on the cards for some time, and it's absolutely critical to have lots of different types of industries, because the economy of northeast Arnhem Land has been reliant on the mine for many, many years," he told AAP.
"Arnhem Land is a microcosm of the Australian economy, and it's dangerous to become too reliant on any one sector."
He said tourism was an industry with potential for growth, and that Arnhem Land could become a major tourism destination "where people can have extraordinary experiences they can't get anywhere else in the world".
The Yolngu communities may be affected badly by the refinery closure.
"Yolngu people are certainly not going to move their homeland - the bigger question is the impact on services that Lirrwi currently uses - the food outlets, service stations and transport," Mr Morse said.
In 2013 the company created part-time work for more than 200 Yolngu people, and has a long-term vision of employing 1000 people across Arnhem Land, and creating 50 new businesses.
"That's not going to replace the economic value of the mine, of course not, but ... this is where Yolngu people want to go," Mr Morse said.
"They see tourism as getting off welfare, a new economy, but they also see this as being able to stay on country, connected to their culture, jobs for their kids, justice, reconciliation, and there's a big social benefit as well."
Until now Lirrwi Tourism has primarily taken corporate and schoolchildren on multi-day tours to learn about Aboriginal culture, living in remote areas, fishing and weaving.
From next year they hope to offer women's tours, homelands tours and art tours.
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