Published on : Wednesday, September 16, 2015
The Northern Territory (NT) continues to be a hit with holiday makers with the latest figures from Tourism Research Australia showing domestic and international visitors are spending more and staying longer.
Chief Minister and Tourism Minister Adam Giles welcomed the new figures showing that domestic and international visitors spent $1.9 billion in the Northern Territory last financial year, up 6.7 per cent on 2013/14.
“The Northern Territory is an iconic destination rich in culture and history that is full of excitement, spectacular landscapes and unique experiences,” he said.
“Tourism is the Territory’s largest employer, providing jobs for around 16,000 people, and the Country Liberals Government has been working hard to help the industry grow after years of decline.
“Of the 1.3 million combined domestic and international visitors to the NT, 693,000 came for a holiday, the highest number of holiday visitors in six years and a 5.6 per cent jump on the previous 12 months.
“While these new figures are encouraging, we know there is more work to be done to ensure visitor numbers increase further across all the Territory’s regions.”
Some key figures from Tourism Research Australia’s International Visitor Survey and National Visitor Survey for the last financial year include:
Total holiday visitors are staying longer in the NT with an 8.8 per cent increase in visitor nights to 4.7 million nights;
The United Kingdom continues to deliver the most overseas holiday visitors to the NT with 35,000 visitors, while the NT is growing in popularity amongst American travellers with visitor numbers jumping by 19 per cent to 34,000 visitors;
The Greater China market, which includes China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, increased by 9.1 per cent to 14,000 visitors last financial year;
Holiday visitors grew strongly in the Uluru region, up 21 per cent to 277,000;
Darwin remained relatively steady with 328,000 holiday visitors; Katherine grew by 19 per cent to 126,000; the Kakadu Arnhem Land region grew by 8.2 per cent to 106,000; and Alice Springs grew by 7.2 per cent to 242,000 in holiday visitors;
The Top End saw a 7.9 per cent increase in interstate holiday visitors and Central Australia saw a 38 per cent increase in interstate holiday visitors to 165,000.
Mr Giles said the Government’s ‘Do the NT’ domestic marketing campaign was continuing to have a positive impact with the number of interstate holiday visitors increasing by 8.1 per cent for the Territory overall.
“We know holiday visitors provide a valuable boost for tour operators so these are pleasing signs and show our marketing campaigns are working,” he said.
“Today’s figures also reinforce that we are on track to achieve our goal of a $2.2 billion visitor economy by 2020 if current growth rates continue.”
Mr Giles said the Country Liberals had set aside $4.75 million in this year’s Budget for a Tourism Infrastructure Development Fund and had increased Tourism NT’s overall budget to $50.4 million to help market the Northern Territory and its attractions.
“A thriving tourism industry helps develop our regions, boost local businesses, create more jobs and grow the Territory economy,” he said.
“Only the Country Liberals have a plan to create opportunities to deliver more jobs, better services and improve our unique way of life.”
Tags: Chief Minister and Tourism Minister Adam Giles, Northern Territory, Uluru region
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