Katherine Town Council blamed a “wetter” wet season for the tourist slump at the start of the year which saw information centre sales dip 20 per cent compared with 2016. 

Visitor Information Centre manager Maria Helou said although the tourists were slow to arrive, they are now arriving by the hundreds. 

“The grey nomads leave home when the weather gets too cold for them, but it was hotter this year so they left later,” Ms Helou said. 

“We also had a longer wet season and a lot of places still had restricted access.

“So far this August has been a lot busier than August last year.” 

Helen and Barry Magor from Port Pirie, South Australia have escaped the southern winter in the NT for eight of the past 10 years. 

“We noticed today coming back from Darwin that there were so many caravans still heading north, which is unusual for this time of ,” Mrs Magor said. 

“We think this year there are more caravans on the road, and they are getting bigger too,” Mr Magor said. 

Kerry and Trevor from Perth have spent the past three nights in Katherine. 

“It is a nice outback country town, it is exactly what I expected,” Trevor said. 

“It is beautiful, lovely, green town, I expected it to look drier but it is very lush,” Kerry said. 

“We have been out to Nitmiluk Gorge which was spectacular, to Edith Falls today which was great and the museum is just wonderful, it is well managed and maintained,” she said. 

Information centre manager Ms Helou said the centre broke an all time sales record in July. 

July sales smashed the 2016 record by 35 per cent. 

“Tourism in Katherine has continued to grow with latest figures showing an increase in spend within our region,” Ms Helou said. 

“July sales figures reached $302,907 with a conversion rate increase of 35 per cent from last year’s record which is credit to the hard working staff employed at the VIC,” Ms Helou said. 

“In addition to a fantastic month, we are pleased to announce that the statistics of the 2016/2017 financial year report has well exceeded target.

“Our sales target was $1,021,675. The team at the Visitor Information Centre reached $1,135,723.”

In 2015/16 the centre recorded 107,768 people passing through their doors. 

In 2016/17 they saw 141,391 people.

The first five months of the year recorded only 28,537 visitors at the centre.

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Plans for the future

Ms Helou is not satisfied with breaking last year’s record,  she already has her sights set on next year. 

“What we are working on for next year is our in-house digital marketing, and show what that can do for our town,” Ms Helou said.

“We want to convert visitor numbers to sales so people are not just walking in and straight back out. We want people to come and stay here for longer and spend more money. 

“At the moment there are buses that just pass by because they haven’t heard enough about Katherine to stay. We want to capture those people before they get here to show them there is a lot to do,” she said. 

Ms Helou attributes the success of the information centre to its staff. 

“I think it is the team and their passion and knowledge of the area, they go above and beyond,” Ms Helou said. 

“At some visitor information centres they just give you a map and send you on your way, but here the staff go out of their way to help.”

Ms Helou said one staff member even hands out homemade mosquito repellent recipes.