Tourism Minister Natasha Fyles indicates Territory tourism vouchers could return next wet season

TOURISM and Hospitality Minister Natasha Fyles has signalled the NT government could bring back the popular Territory Tourism Voucher scheme as soon as next wet season

• Fyles leaves door open to one more round of Territory tourism voucher scheme after round 3 blitz

TOURISM and Hospitality Minister Natasha Fyles has signalled the NT government could bring back the popular Territory Tourism Voucher scheme as soon as next wet season.

Speaking on ABC Darwin yesterday morning, Ms Fyles said the scheme had been so successful, the government would consider bringing it back after the Dry to support tourism and hospitality businesses during a traditionally quieter period.

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“What we’ll do is, we know that the dry season is the peak season for our tourist season, so we’ll get through the dry season and then reassess where we’re at,” she said.

“We’re certainly not ruling out any further support, but we also do need to make sure that it’s targeted.”

It comes after Ms Fyles declined to rule out a fourth round of the popular voucher scheme following the end of its third and final scheduled round last month.

Tourists at Ubirr in Kakadu National Park. Picture: Johan Lolos

Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce said the voucher scheme had provided a big boost to NT tourism and hospitality businesses, who would welcome its extension even beyond next wet season.

“We believe when you include (the) hospitality and retail spend, the vouchers delivered between $5 to $8 in total spend for every $1 committed by the NT government,” he said.

“We can see a place for the vouchers to be an annual component of our quieter shoulder and wet season periods in addition to the great events NT Major Events are delivering.”

Chamber of Commerce NT chief executive Greg Ireland said the chamber would support the scheme’s return next wet season.

“When we do get to the dry season we are expecting a strong drive market to come through the Territory and that will hopefully sustain business into the next Wet, and then that might be the ideal time to encourage Territorians and visitors to enjoy the wet season,” he said.

The multimillion-dollar Territory Tourism Voucher scheme has been a huge hit with Territorians since it was rolled out in July, following a three-month campaign by the NT News.

The 38,000 vouchers in the third and final scheduled round, which were released on February 1, were snapped up in just three minutes.

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Of the more than 33,000 extra people who were waitlisted for that round, only 2280 are yet to receive a voucher.

All vouchers must be used by the end of April.

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