Tourism is an important economic driver for the Northern Territory (NT) and a significant industry in regional areas. Tourism's contribution to the NT economy is captured in a range of industries. These include accommodation and food services, retail trade, culture and recreation, and transport. In this section, analysis is provided on domestic and international visitor numbers and their habits, cruise ships and visitors, accommodation, aviation, attractions and infrastructure, and marketing initiatives.
Economic contribution | Contribution to employment | International visitors | Domestic visitors | Accommodation | Cruise ships | Explanatory notes
Tourism is an important economic driver for the NT and a significant industry in regional areas. Tourism's contribution to the NT economy is captured in a range of industries, including accommodation and food services, retail trade, culture and recreation, rental and hiring, construction, and transport.
Tourism Research Australia (TRA) reports the direct and indirect impact of expenditure and employment of tourism at the state and territory level based on data from the ABS' National Tourism Satellite Accounts. The Department of Treasury and Finance work closely with the Department of Tourism and Hospitality (DTH) to compile information on the NT's tourism industry.
For more industry and tourism related data, including visitor factsheets, marketing, sector development and initiatives, visit DTH's Tourism NT Corporate website. Unless otherwise stated, the following analysis is based on estimates published by TRA.
Economic contribution
- In 2023-24, the tourism industry in the NT is estimated to have directly contributed $1,2 billion or 3.8% to gross state product.
- For further information visit the TRA website for the Tourism Satellite Accounts publication available in the economic analysis section.
Contribution to employment
- In 2023-24, tourism was a large employer in the NT with the sector directly employing about 7,973 people, which increased to 16,958 people when the indirect contribution is accounted for (8,985 people).
- For further information please go to the TRA website for the Tourism Satellite Accounts publication available in the economic analysis section.
International visitors
- International visitor numbers to the NT increased to an estimated 255,000 visitors in the year ending December 2025, an increase of 15.1% compared with the year ending December 2024 (Chart 1).
Domestic visitors
- In the year ending December 2025, 995,000 interstate and intrastate overnight visitors travelled to and within the NT, increasing by 17.9% compared with the year to December 2024. NT domestic visitors make up about 0.9% of national domestic visitors.
- Interstate visitation to the NT increased by 26.5% to 617,000 visitors in the year ending December 2025. New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland represent the largest interstate source markets for the NT (Chart 4).
- Visit TRA's Data and research collection for a detailed breakdown of data. Additional analysis is available from Tourism NT.
Accommodation
- The NT, Darwin and Alice Springs region monthly accommodation reports are sourced from daily data provided by participating hotels to the STR (formally known as Smith Travel Research) Global survey. For detailed information on accommodation, visit the research section on the Tourism NT website.
- NT occupancy rates for December 2025 were higher compared to December 2024, largely due to an increase in hotel demand and decrease in hotel supply.
Cruise ships
- The Northern Territory Government is implementing the Cruise Tourism Strategy 2022-2025 to increase both cruise liners and expedition ships over the next 3 years. In 2024-25, the Darwin Port welcomed 113 cruise ships.
Explanatory notes
- NT tourism data is based primarily on data sourced from TRA. Their international visitor survey is conducted by computer-assisted personal interviewing in the departure lounges of the eight major international airports: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin and Gold Coast. Survey results are weighted to data provided by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship on international visitor numbers with the assistance of the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- TRA revised international visitor survey estimates from 2005 to 2018 with the release of year ending December 2018 data. The revisions focus on purpose-of-visit estimates, with minimal change to visitor, nights and spend estimates. As results have been revised back to 2005, they cannot be used or compared with previously published data.
- The national visitor survey (NVS) includes any Australian resident who is 15 years of age or older and has lived in their current residence for at least three months. Up to the end of 2013, the NVS sample only included residential landline phones, but from January 2014 onwards the sample design was modified by the addition of mobile phones.
- For further information on the methodology used by TRA for their international and national visitor surveys go to TRA website .
- The NT, Darwin and Alice Springs monthly accommodation reports are sourced from daily data provided by participating hotels to the STR Global survey. This data is accumulated and averaged for the month and used as the basis for the analysis.