International Visitors Surveys shows number of overseas tourists visiting the Northern Territory rose in the last 12 months

THE NORTHERN Territory has seen international visitor numbers grow in the last 12 months to end a decade-long tumble.

MUST CREDIT: Tourism NT... Parap Markets, Darwin City Mandatory credit: Tourism NT Picture: Nt Tourism

THE Northern Territory has seen international visitor numbers grow in the past 12 months to end a decade-long tumble.

Visitors to the Territory increased by 8.5 per cent to 280,000 for the year ending June 2014, compared to the previous 12 months.

French tourists in particular jumped on the bandwagon, with 20,000 visitors – an increase of 14 per cent for the year ending September 2014.

Tourism Minister Matt Conlan said the figures from Tourism Research Australia’s latest International Visitor Survey (IVS) indicated a promising start for recovery.

“This 8.5 per cent jump is the highest increase for international visitors to the Territory we’ve seen following a decade of decline,” he said.

“We know there are still many challenges ahead but we’re in this for the long haul.”

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Key findings in the IVS showed the largest increases in holiday activity across the year ending September 2014 were in the Greater Darwin region (up 18 per cent on the previous year), and the Kakadu/Arnhem region (up 22 per cent).

The Barkly saw an 8.8 per cent increase to perform best in Central Australia.

Holiday visitors overall rose by 5.7 per cent to 234,000, injecting $325 million into the NT economy (an increase of 11 per cent). Total spending was up by 9 per cent to $425 million.

Mr Conlan said the NT was working towards re-energising tourist interest after the Government’s international marketing budgets dipped below $6 million in 2012.

“These figures are buoyed by the significant extra investment of $16 million into our tourism budget in the past two years,” he said. “We are on track with our plan to deliver a $2.2 billion visitor economy in the NT by 2020.”

The IVS said the Territory had been affected by the economic downturn in the UK, its largest source market.

China, which recorded the highest expenditure nationally, remains an “emerging market” in the NT, with about 13,000 visitors each year and the Government aims to increase this to 30,000 by 2020.