Tourists stranded by Greater Darwin lockdown swamp Katherine accommodation

Hundreds of tourists left stranded outside of the Greater Darwin area after it was locked down on Sunday have flooded into Katherine, sparking a rush on accommodation that’s seen tourist parks booked out and dedicated overflow areas reach close to capacity.

HUNDREDS of tourists left stranded outside of the Greater Darwin area after it was locked down on Sunday have flooded into Katherine, sparking a rush on accommodation that’s seen tourist parks booked out and dedicated overflow areas reach close to capacity.

Multiple Katherine accommodation businesses, which were already experiencing a busy dry season, told the NT News they had been overwhelmed with inquiries for new or extended stays since Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced a two-day lockdown of the Greater Darwin area on Sunday, which was extended by 72 hours the following day.

Manbulloo Homestead Caravan Park co-owner Brian Hill said his business had never accommodated as many caravans as it had since the Greater Darwin lockdown was announced a few days ago.

“It’s been chaotic, to say the least,” he said.

“As soon as the announcement was made, everyone wanted to extend, but we already had forward bookings.

“Everywhere we’ve got a spare power point, we’ve got a van hooked up to it.

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“I’ve just put some more sites out near the access road and I’ve got powered sites there but we’ve also got people in the paddocked areas with unpowered sites.

“It’s amazing, we’ve never had this many vans here ever.”

Shady Lane Tourist Park assistant manager Jarrod Bates said staff at the accommodation provider had been flat out trying to keep up with inquiries.

“It’s been hectic, because we’ve had our normal tourists, as in people that are booked in here and they’re arriving as normal but then we’ve had people trying to extend their stay until the lockdown finishes in Darwin, and also people who are concerned about getting into WA as well,” he said.

“We’re always busy at this time of year and our park would have been more or less full beforehand but the lockdown in Darwin has made it particularly busy.”

Boab Caravan Park owner Belinda Biddle said her business had also been swamped.

“We’ve had an enormous amount of inquiries and we’ve turned away huge mobs of people,” she said.

Katherine Town Council Mayor Lis Clark. Picture: Supplied

Katherine Town Council Mayor Lis Clark said the influx of stranded tourists had prompted the local government to open overflow camping at the Katherine Showgrounds and even those sites were now close to capacity.

“We’ve had a huge influx of people, all our parks are full and that is why council has allowed the opening of the overflow at the showgrounds,” she said.

“It’s filled up very quickly and all the powered sites are gone, though there are still some unpowered ones available.

“We are still getting people in … yesterday and today were extremely busy.

“We’re taking everyone who needs it, just because every business is booked out and there’s nowhere else for these people to go.

“Most of the places in town were at 90 per cent capacity even before this.”

Ms Clark said it was good to see local business booming.