Northern Territory Minister for Tourism and Culture Lauren Moss

Strong Numbers Support Stimulus Efforts

Victor P Taffa

Tourism visitor statistics released by Tourism Research Australia (TRA)* show that domestic and international visitation to the Northern Territory has stabilised in the September quarter of 2018.

Domestic holiday visitation to the Northern Territory in the year ending September 2018 experienced strong growth (up +13 % to 657,000 visitors); the highest level recorded by the National Visitor Survey since it commenced in 1998.

Visitation to the Territory has been on a soft downward trend for the last 2 years, however the latest figures are cause for optimism.

“Territory Government announced its record $103 Million Turbocharging Tourism stimulus in February, aimed at attracting more visitors, creating local jobs and putting more money into the pockets of Territorians.” Minister for Tourism and Culture Lauren Moss said.

“This investment was designed to immediately attract more tourists and business travellers to the Northern Territory, injecting more money into the economy and mitigating some of the impact of the INPEX Ichthys project transition from construction to operations.”

Northern Territory Government’s record $103 Million Turbocharging Tourism stimulus package, announced in February 2018, was designed to immediately attract more tourists and business travellers, injecting more money into the economy and mitigating some of the impact of the INPEX Ichthys project transition from construction to operations.

Visitation over the July to September 2018 months grew by +8.2 % for international visitation and +25 % for domestic holiday visitation compared to the same months last year.

In the year ending September 2018, combined visitation to the Northern Territory remained relatively stable at -0.5 % or 1.8 Million visitors, with a marginal decline in international (-1.1 % to 289,000 visitors) and the domestic market stabilising (-0.4 % to 1.5 Million visitors).

While combined spending in the year ending September 2018 decreased by -3.4% (to $2.2 Billion), holiday expenditure was up +32 % to $806 Million.

TRA figures indicate that holiday visitors are starting to replace the void created with the demobilisation of INPEX workers this year.

* Source: Tourism Research Australia