Tourism Top End on ‘optimism’ surrounding the 2025 dry season
With the dry season closing in, tourism operators are congregating at Mindil Beach Casino Resort with a view to network and promote their businesses early. Read why there is a ‘very different feeling’ than this time last year.
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With the dry season closing in, tourism operators are congregating at Mindil Beach Casino Resort with a view to network and promote their businesses early.
On Friday afternoon, more than 60 exhibitors assembled at the resort, including operators from Katherine, East Kimberley, Arnhem Land and beyond.
Tourism Top End general manager Samantha Bennett said there was “real optimism” among the operators.
“More flights is helping and the forward bookings are looking really good,” she said.
“Operators have come back a little bit earlier this year because of the tourism discount scheme, so they wanted to get that local market out and moving.”
The get-together will spill into Saturday, with part of the casino’s floorspace to be converted into a forum, allowing operators to sell directly to the public, with special prizes, discount accommodation, scenic flights and cheap event tickets readily available.
“It’s a very different feeling than it was this time last year,” Ms Bennett said.
“The industry is feeling really positive about the future.”
Adding to the tourism sector’s zeal is the reopening of Gunlom Falls, which will see its first visitors in May after being closed for six years - a decision welcomed by Ms Bennett.
“That’s what people come to the Territory for - they don’t come to go shopping,” she said.
“They come to go and explore our regions and our parks and wildlife.
“Provided we’ve got that access and those visitor experiences, the industry will do the rest of the work.”
However, the “highly competitive” industry is not lost on Ms Bennett, who is acutely aware of interstate attractions vying for the Australian dollar.
“We are competing with the (Great Barrier) Reef, the Whitsundays, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the festivals in Melbourne,” she said.
“(In the NT) we’re taking bookings right up until 2030, the lead times for these things is long and it takes a long time to build that capacity within industry to actually offer rates.”
Last month, entertainment company Big Red Group claimed there was “cause for optimism” surrounding the Territory’s tourism sector, with a report revealing there had been considerable increases to booking numbers across the country in 2025.
Darwin alone had registered a 30.3 per cent increase in booking numbers.
Alice Springs also recorded a 10 per cent bump-up.
Big Red Group chief executive David Anderson said the Territory appeared to be “finding its stride again”.
“We don’t anticipate this to lose momentum any time soon either – particularly as we appear to be nearing light at the end of the tunnel after nearly half a decade of recovery and uncertainty.”
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Originally published as Tourism Top End on ‘optimism’ surrounding the 2025 dry season
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