Tourism

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.

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 Industry, Tourism and Trade (DITT) 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 DITT’s Tourism NT Corporate website. Unless otherwise stated, the following analysis is based on estimates published by TRA.

Economic contribution

In 2021-22, the tourism industry in the NT is estimated to have directly contributed $784 million or 2.5% 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 2021-22, tourism was a large employer in the NT with the sector directly employing about 6,900 people, which increased to about 12,500 people when the indirect contribution is accounted for (about 5,600 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 180,000 visitors in the year ending September 2023, a significant increase from the estimated 44,000 international visitors in the year ending September 2022 (Chart 1) as international border restrictions eased in early 2022.

Holiday and leisure visitors make up the largest proportion of international and domestic visitors to the NT at approximately 53%.
Visit TRA's Data and research collection for a detailed breakdown of data. Additional analysis is available from Tourism NT.

Domestic visitors

In the year ending September 2023, 1.4 million interstate and intrastate overnight visitors travelled to and within the NT, decreasing by 5.8%. NT domestic visitors make up about 1.2% of national domestic visitors.
The decrease in domestic visitors reflects decreases in holiday and leisure trips (down by 12.9% to 704,000 visitors) and persons visiting friends and relatives (down by 2.7% to 184,000) over this period (Chart 3).
Domestic visitation decreased by 15.3% to 971,000 visitors to the Top End, and visitors to Central Australia increased by 13.1% to 439,000 visitors over the period.

Interstate visitation to the NT decreased by 7.9% to 787,000 visitors in the year ending September 2023. New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia 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 October 2023 were lower compared to October 2022, largely due to a decrease in hotel demand and increase in hotel supply.

Aviation

The Territory’s tourism industry relies heavily on aviation due to large distances between major tourist attractions within the Territory and the remoteness of Darwin and Alice Springs from major metropolitan areas in other jurisdictions.
The Territory is serviced by four domestic airlines and four international airlines.

Cruise ships

The cruise and expedition ship sector is traditionally a key part of the tourism industry in the Top End, particularly over the tropical summer period, generating an estimated $60 million of annual expenditure within the Territory pre‑COVID‑19. A declaration under the Biosecurity Act 2015 has prevented foreign cruise ships or large passenger vessels capable of carrying more than 100 passengers from entering Australian waters for the past 2 years. This restriction was removed on 18 April 2022.
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. Based on current data, there are 103 ships booked in to visit Darwin this season, with a passenger capacity of approximately 60,000 visitors and an expected expenditure of $65 million.

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.

Department of
Treasury and Finance

Northern Territory Economy