Tourism urged to get creative 

Small tourism operators will have to be more innovative to counteract the impact that emissions trading will have on the cost of business, a conference in Brisbane has been told.

University of NSW Professor Larry Dwyer told the Qantas Sustainable Tourism Conference that an emissions trading scheme was essential, but it also meant tough times ahead for small tourism operators.

His comments came a day after the federal government's climate change adviser Professor Ross Garnaut handed down his final report on what the nation should do about climate change.

"Garnaut's recommendations have enormous implications for tourism ... the problem is a lot of the small operators don't understand what it means for them," Dwyer said.

"They won't engage in emissions trading like big firms but the implications for little operators will be that their costs will go up.

"Because the price of carbon emissions go up, so does all their energy costs and so does the price of their products."

He said the rising costs would make it difficult for small operators to offer competitive prices.

"Because of the inevitability of these emission schemes operators have to become smarter," Dwyer said.

"They need to develop more quality products that will be attractive to people.

"For example, on (the) NSW coast there are resorts that cater specifically for gays and lesbians.

"That is smart because you are differentiating your product and you are reaching out to a group of people with a reasonable income - the double incomes with no kids."