Tourism experts are talking about the domestic travel and camping boom that has been triggered by ongoing international travel restrictions … and the statistics seems to bear them out. New data shows that South Australia’s national parks have experienced a staggering 77% rise in park entry numbers in December 2020 when compared to the same time in 2019.
Some 28,298 people visited South Australia’s regional national parks in December 2020, up from 15,985 the year before.
The state’s coastal and river parks were the most popular … with Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park on the Yorke Peninsula experiencing a 90% rise; Port Lincoln National Park on the Eyre Peninsula receiving twice as many visitors; and Murray River National Park in the Riverland which had a 200% rise in people camping.
Minister for Environment and Water David Speirs said the numbers were eye-catching, and the benefits indisputable.
“With international borders closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic many Australians have been looking to holiday in their own backyard and our national parks – and in particular our regions – have been real beneficiaries,” he said. “This has significant flow on benefits for regional communities with more people staying the night, spending money and supporting the local economy at a time when it’s needed most.”
As part of the rise in overall park visitation, there’s also been a significant increase in people taking shorter, weekend visits in the past year to parks within half a day travel outside of Adelaide such as in Mount Remarkable National Park, Deep Creek Conservation Park and Para Wirra Conservation Parks.
“To have a 77% increase in visitor numbers to our national parks is an amazing result,” Minister Speirs said. “South Australia is home to some of the most picturesque landscapes in the world and it’s fantastic to see more and more people getting outdoors and experiencing this.”
