DARWIN – Tourism to Australia’s Northern Territory recorded an 11% increase to nearly two million arrivals, helped by rising business visitors and key international source markets.
In the year ending June, the territory attracted 1.95 million visitors and A$2.54 billion (US$1.71 billion) in tourism spend.
Business visitors contributed to the biggest growth with an increase of 33% to 783,000.
Domestic arrivals from New South Wales and Queensland also represented a sizable A$681 million to tourism spend.
The top markets for international visitors were Japan and US. Visitors from Japan, in particular, registered a 56% jump to 40,000.
The introduction of direct flights from China since last year has also helped encourage a 35% increase to 23,000 Chinese visitors.
Meanwhile, thousands have reportedly flocked to Uluru ahead of an upcoming October 26 ban on scaling the territory’s popular landmark following a decades-long campaign by indigenous communities to protect it.
The Unesco World Heritage-listed 348-metre rock, famed for its deep red-ochre hues, is a top tourist draw despite its remote desert location near Alice Springs.
The upcoming ban has drawn a throng of visitors and it is the busiest it has been in more than a decade, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park manager Mike Misso told broadcaster SBS News.