Not everything about them may be perfect, but Australia’s stunningly beautiful national parks are continuing to attract massive number of visitors.
In NSW, for example, parks received their highest ever visitation last financial year, with 65.5 million visits.
The State Government said national parks injected $19.5 billion to the NSW economy and supported 62,000 jobs annually … with regional communities in particular reaping significant benefits.
While some grey nomads may be unhappy that they are prohibited from taking their dogs with them, and even more widespread concern expressed over online booking systems and rising fees, it seems travellers still can’t get enough of Australia’s national parks.
NSW has 895 national parks and reserves, with about 5% of them having vehicle entry fees. PIC: NSW Government
NSW Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, Penny Sharpe, said national parks were one of the state’s most precious public assets and places where memories were made.
“Connecting people to nature supports tens of thousands of jobs and drives economic development, especially in regional NSW,” she said. “We’ve invested $352 million to improve facilities, open new campgrounds, build world-class walks and support recreation like 4WD, mountains bikes and rock climbing.”
NSW’s top 10 most visited parks in the 2024-25 financial year were:
The NSW South Coast fared particularly well, with the data showing visitation to the region’s national parks had grown 81% in the past decade. Some 34% of visits to South Coast parks were by interstate travellers, particularly from Victoria and the ACT.
It was also strikingly evident that international visitors had very much discovered national parks, with 72% of overseas tourists to NSW visiting at least one national park, generating 4.6 million visits.
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