Tourism numbers at Adelaide’s West Terrace Cemetery rises from the dead

IT may be home to the dead but tourism is alive at Australia’s oldest operating cemetery.

IT may be home to the dead but tourism is alive at Australia’s oldest operating cemetery.

New figures show a record 11,547 people visited West Terrace Cemetery last year — a 48 per cent rise in 12 months and nearly triple tourist numbers in four years.

The cemetery said the spike in “cemetery tourism” came after a successful push to improve safety at the 177-year-old site, located in the city’s west, and the introduction of popular tourist walks and guided tours.

“The majority of people go to cemeteries when they have to and not have that clear reflection when they grieve,” said Adelaide Cemeteries Authority chief executive Robert Pitt.

“But this offers them a time to reflect their own morality and their own lives.”

In 2010 security was upgraded at the site, which had its first interment in February 1837, following a series of vandalism attacks that prompted visitor numbers to plunge to a record low of just 4056.

The authority’s board then authorised a series of other new measures to boost numbers including opening up a bike track through the centre and introducing initiatives such as walking trials and tours.

The success has also been credited to travel bible Lonely Planet last year naming the cemetery as one of its “on-trend attractions” for its tours that made a “great escape from the busy streets”.

“Certainly West Terrace Cemetery … was in the press for the wrongs reasons, particularly because we had one or two nasty vandalism attacks,” Mr Pitt said.

“But we came up with a couple of strategies to get more people into the cemetery. We wanted to create a sense of safety and help make people realise they are a place to remember.

“It also is enlightening as it makes reflect on your own mortality and what you want to do when you times comes. And that is an important concept.”

He added: “If this was in London or Paris it would be a main reason to visit the city.”

Mr Pitt, who has been in the role for the past four years, said the authority was “really pleased” with the turnaround in visitor interest to a site that was once “undervalued and underused”.

The authority has introduced five self-guided trails where people can learn about the “remarkable lives” of dozens of people such as Percy Grainger, the composer, or the mysterious Somerton Man.

There are also guided tours twice a week and the growing popularity led to a new night tours being launched in May that includes a “theatrical” experience with period actors.

Among a group of tourists on Friday night were Paul Taylor, and his wife Pennie.

The West Terrace Cemetery, which is home to more than 150,000 grave sites across 60,000 plots, is the only such site in Australia to be accredited under the National Tourism Accreditation Scheme. The site has also won a series of tourism awards.

The authority, which also operates cemeteries in Enfield, Smithfield and Cheltenham, has just 300 plots left.