A flood of negative publicity about high levels of crime in towns such as Alice Springs has resulted in significantly fewer visitors this year, according to tourism chiefs.
Tourism Central Australia chief executive, Danial Rochford, told the NT News that while some sectors, including Ghan travellers and tour groups had been tracking well, the numbers of people driving through Central Australia were ‘well down on pre-Covid numbers’.
“We’re unfortunately seeing a decrease in the length of stay in both Alice Springs and Tennant Creek,” he said. “And we see that directly linked to crime.”
But crime was not the only factor.
It's been quieter than normal, but quite a few vans have still headed north. PIC: Cizza
“It’s a confluence of issues,” Mr Rochford told the NT News. “We’ve got our grey nomad market going on cruise ships, we’re seeing a lot of Australians going on short trips … we’re not seeing the same numbers of international visitors.”
NT Caravan Parks Association chair Brendan Heenan, who owns Wintersun Cabin and Caravan Park in Alice Springs, said the season was down about 50-60% on a typical year.
“It’s been a very poor season,” he told the NT News. “One of the reasons is bad publicity, but the other reason is cruise ships … there have been huge discounts trying to get people to come back cruising again.”
Cost of living pressures were also said to be persuading some caravanners to travel intrastate rather than to the Territory, and high air fares into Alice Springs were also having an impact.
“At the moment most people are coming in without ringing up,” Mr Heenan told the NT News. “They just rock up here for one night and then they’re off again.”
Further north, things were a little brighter. Tourism Top End chairman, Shaun Pearce, said the season had been a ‘mixed bag’, with some operators ‘really struggling’ and others booked out.
“Last year was never going to be repeated, that was a unicorn year,” he told the NT News. “But when you compare this year to 2019, we’re around the mark or a little bit under.”
Places like Katherine Gorge have reportedly been very busy, and Cooinda Lodge in Kakadu has been ‘pumping’, according to General Manager, Jason Cleverley.
“We’re seeing predominantly Australian travellers … this is all our local travellers, which we love,” he told the NT News. “We’ve still got our grey nomads with their caravans but predominantly our customer base are the ones flying into the Territory and slowly making their way around.”
However, Litchfield Tourist Park, has not been as busy as had been hoped.
“We’ve had a few honeymoon years because of Covid, but this year has gone back to what we were used to,” owner, Shelly Haitana, told the NT News. “Twelve weeks being busy and 40 weeks waiting for the next season to come around again.”
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Maybe if the parks offered a discount like they used to do before all this rubbish called surge pricing then it may be a reason to stay longer .
Totally agree
We went to the Alice last year around June and found the place okay during the day. A high police presences was a bit disconcerting but I understanding they were doing what they were told. We did not go during the night so I could not comment on after dark activities. We would go again, but we have other places to see before repeating visits.
There are a number of reliably well documented trouble spots that we wouldn’t stay at up north.
We did a slow trip of almost a months duration traveling from Broome to Darwin in the not too distant past.
You need to be vigilant in a few hot spots for obvious reasons.
Stayed in Alice Springs a couple of months ago and it was certainly quieter than last year. Had no issues with the locals but then we don’t go into town during the evenings. Most likely one of the reasons Litchfield is quieter is due to the new national park cost!! Started in April this year. We’ve always done it every year we’ve been travelling but certainly not paying to do it anymore!
I agree that the National Park sting has put us off, together with the cost of fuel and Caravan Park rip-off prices together with the crime rate amongst the “locals.”
The teams have just come back from Darwin for the Chariots of Thunder Sprint car racing which had a great ending for the team in Alice Springs. I’m reporting to you that driving up the main Hwy through Alice and Tennent Creek is a bit of a nightmare in some places along the way. Crime is evident and it becomes blatantly obvious with not being able to buy supplies in certain areas after certain times of the afternoon to evening. There are also cases of groups of people approaching the trucks and looking very suspicious which can be scary for a single person on their own. Especially when you pull up and they appear and head straight towards the vehicle. There has been attempts to open side storage doors witnessed which makes owners very wary of these people. On another occasion coming through on the Hwy again at Tennent Creek this was during the night that large groups of drunken people were harassing vehicles as they drove through the area putting them off stopping at all. Running over the road in front of trucks and smashing and throwing objects at the truck … so I’m thinking that would be enough to put anyone in our teams ever stopping in these areas to camp or looking at tourist attractions in these areas. All of the travelling group had some kind of issue with part of the trip up and back and this also happened the years before … drunkenness seems to be the driving problem that they witnessed and being aware of being told by some of the locals , do not leave your vehicles , trucks , RVs or caravans unattended and or unlocked at any time … that’s our teams experience …in the last 2 years same travelling reason … stay safe out there is all we can pass on.
simple answer. COST!
Crime put me off. Having to lock everything away, feeling unsafe at night, Police working with their hands tied behind their backs. Politicians out of touch, throwing money around without an understanding of the grass routes issues.
Cannot see me going up there for a while.
Last time was May 1995.
Great trip.Lucky still have video of trip
The cruise ship industry offering value for money relaxed enjoyable fully catered vacations as apposed to rip off fuel prices crowded van parks obscene park fees are taking our customers, maybe the federal government should limit competition like they did with rejecting Qatar airlines application to increase inbound flights so that Australians paid 52% more for international air tickets ..
We went “up the middle” in May/June this year, and we loved it. We pre planned everything so we didn’t have the worry of not being able to get in anywhere. Stayed just out of Alice, didn’t venture out at night, had a great time at Uluṟu, stayed at a farm stay near Tennant Creek, loved Katherine and the gorges, Bitter Springs was another highlight and of course Daly Waters. We were aware of the crime, drunkenness etc, just need to be vigilant that’s all. Overall we really enjoyed our time in the NT.
We have just spent 10 weeks in Darwin and surrounding areas. We wouldn’t estimate that tourist numbers are down by much. Not as busy as 21/22 but still reasonably full.
Alice Springs used to be a great place to visit, however, this has certainly changed over the past couple of years. We were in Alice in June, and you were advised not to go out in the late afternoon or nighttime due to crime and your own safety. We stayed out of town at the Discovery G’Day Park and although the owners have done all that they can to stop uninvited people getting in it still happens. With a large fence with spikes on the top and a huge gate to enter & exit you still do not feel safe. This time to get into the park they dug underneath the fence. It’s a real shame as it is a rally great park. We will not go back to Alice Springs, Tennent Creek etc or places along the Stuart Hwy again.
We much prefer to travel in Qld except Mt Isa & Normanton, once again we stayed out of town the Argylla park in Mt Isa, but that was also hit by young offenders.
KB Merbein.
Not surprising to read of the drop in NT tourism. We did a road trip through those parts last year and promised never to plan any stays in NT again. Couldn’t find Caravan Pk vacancies and Free Camping areas. Rangers offered no help to find somewhere to park a Motorhome. Crime was another big deterrent throughout the North of WA and NT. Vandalism, lack of higene and high prices too left one questioning why bother touring those towns.