There are growing signs that visitor numbers to the Northern Territory will not be as high as tourism operators there had hoped for this year.
NT Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Greg Ireland, told the ABC that hospitality bookings and revenue were ‘down a considerable amount … around 25-30%’.
“I think anecdotally we can see that the business community, caravan parks and other tourism-related activities are seeing less travellers,” he said.
He listed the high costs of flights to the territory, the high cost of accommodation, and even potentially safety and security concerns as the factors potentially impacting on the number of visitors so far this dry season.
Heading north? Heading home? Or heading to the airport? PIC: Cizza
Howard Halter, the manager of Darwin’s iconic Mindil Beach Sunset Markets, has also noticed traveller numbers are down.
He told the ABC that the markets, usually ‘shoulder to shoulder’, were not yet so in 2023.
“The cost of living at the moment is putting the bite on some people,” he said.
Phillip Parnaby, who owns a tourist park in Coolalinga, told the ABC that he had put staff on stand-by and reduced operation costs to keep campsite fees competitive in a bid to encourage longer stays.
He said that, with the current a cost-of-living crisis, the next six months would be critical for operators.
“It’s very important, because our energy bills are all going to go up and all our fuel, so you got to have a good year, because if we don’t we might not be here next year,” Mr Parnaby told the ABC. “But I am confident we will have a good year.”
The ABC reports that the NT government’s latest tourism figures show a 70% drop in international visitor numbers, from 299,000 in 2019 to just 90,000 in 2022.
The data also shows a drop in domestic numbers.
“The pent-up demand that we had last year following Covid, Darwin was high on everyone’s bucket list, they wanted to have a new experience, but not necessarily go off-shore,” Michael Johnson, the head of Tourism Accommodation Australia, told the ABC. “But we’re now seeing the number of Australians going [overseas] is back to pre-pandemic levels.”
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Unfortunately, the Territory and WA are expensive travel destinations for the majority of our small population. Couple this with the fantastic deals being offered by our neighbours to the North where one can be pampered like a Pharaoh, it is a hard ask to expect Mr and Mrs Ozzie to pay more to receive less.
We are currently in FNQ having travelled across the Nullarbor from our home in the Sth West of Western Australia and up through NSW to get to Queensland. I would have liked to travel via Alice Springs but because of the reported incidents of Damage in the town, we decided to go the way we did. I’m sure others are listening to reports about problems in Alice, Katherine and Darwin and have decided to go elsewhere.
Luckily we did an extended trip from Broome to Darwin in 2019 before the current troubles erupted. Even back then you had to be careful & be very aware of potential theft & vandalism.
No way would we even think of doing it again despite the iconic scenery & beautiful environment.
Maybe if they didn’t charge out of state visitors exorbitant fees just to enter their national parks this is on top of any camping fees they may have retained their visitation rates.
Absolutely
And what about the proposed $25 Dollar daily fee to visit water holes? I may not be a Territorian but am Australian through and through.
Was in Darwin this time last year . Impromptu visit due to car breakdown but couldn’t find a site to save our selves . What’s changed?? Thank goodness for Robbie Robins Reserve. Only place we could get fitted in .
And yet we had to abandon plans to visit Uluru in July due to lack of an available caravan site……
We have just spent seven days in Alice Springs. The caravan park we stayed in was full fenced with codes to enter and leave. There were three attempted break ins whilst we were there. We stopped in Elliot for fuel and lunch and local indigenous children and their Mother attempted to get our bikes off the rear of our caravan whilst we were inside eating our lunch. We spoke with a couple who passed through Halls Creek a few days ago and they saw a vehicle and a caravan that had been pelted with rocks by local youths.
And this is the real reason. Each town has their own Facebook page with constant reports of seemingly rampant crime so why would anyone drive all that way just to be watching your back all the time.
We were in Halls Creek in 2010 and it seems that nothing has changed by the sound of it!
Has the Supermarket been rebuilt after some idiot burner it down in 2010? I bet the $5,000.00 reward that was offered at the time did not help find the culprit!
Funny that the numbers are looking down only months after the NT gov announced that the free camps are now pay to use.
Absolutely.
Yep, a horrible decision, I think a lot of peple will seriously consider whethrr the NT is worth going back, especially if you’ve been before
Couldn’t agree more, outrageous prices to enter national parks.
They mentioned everything Except the New Park fees across the whole territory, so just blame the cost of fuel .
My wife and I certainly wont be traveling North, not due to the cost of living as everyone seems to highlight it before anything else, basically you have to live where ever you are, our concern is safety as it is more out of control across the top of Australia than anywhere else, and it appears travelers, in particular caravanners are targeted, and pity help you if you break down, so NO we will not travel North, this includes Alice Springs which we loved last time there in 2018.
We are no longer going to NT this year due to security issues, it is bad enough in Northern Queensland towns, bit like Africa now stay in camp at night,and be very aware of your surroundings at tourest spots and in towns, take care fellow gray nomads
We travelled 36,000km’s around Australia between 2010 and 2011 and employed the 30km Rule for free camping, i.e.; Never camp closer than 30km from any town with a pub or Aboriginal settlement, the locals won’t travel that far for a drinks party! And never setup camp anywhere there is a Midden of “Dem Green Fellows.”
SE Qld based, but definitely won’t be going to NT now – security & safety concerns. We’re going to southern states for a month in October instead.
Yes, we are doing Qld gulf country and we discussed the security aspects at length when planning the trip. It’s such a complex problem and certainly no easy solutions but ultimately if the antisocial behaviour continues and the tourists including the grey nomad community are driven away then it will truly be a tragedy.
We were in Darwin a few years ago and heard on the local radio station a caravan park owner refer to grey nomads as “Wallets on Wheels”.