You have to dig deep to unearth Katherine in the NT Government’s latest tourism campaign.
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The campaign ‘Summer Well Spent’ hopes to attract more visitors to the NT over what is traditionally the slower wet season.
The latest tourism campaign ‘Summer Well Spent’ targets domestic holiday makers to the Northern Territory during our wet season.
Launching the campaign on the weekend, Tourism and Culture Minister Lauren Moss said it was important to keep the NT front of mind for Australian travellers planning their summer holidays.
“Tourism is a key economic driver for the Territory, it pumps close to $2.2 billion into the economy every year and provides employment, directly or indirectly, for more than 17,000 people, amounting to 12 per cent of the Northern Territory’s workforce,” Ms Moss said.
“The campaign will help attract more visitors to the Territory, providing an important boost for local tourism operators and businesses and create jobs over what is traditionally the slower season.”
The campaign website highlights holiday deals, videos, regional maps, itineraries and activities in Darwin, Kakadu and Alice Springs.
There is little mention of Nitmiluk Gorge, who in 2016 attracted more than a quarter of a million visitors.
While other attractions like Uluru, Kakadu and Darwin appear on the home page, it takes some skill to navigate to the first mention of Katherine, in the Self Drive Adventures tab.
In 2016 Nitmiluk had more visitors than Kakadu.
Parks visitation numbers for the year ended June 2016 were Kakadu 178,899, Nitmiluk 261,283.
The gorge has also been been recognised on the global tourism stage as one of the natural wonders of the world.
There was also no mention of the Katherine Hot Springs which has recently undergone major renovation works in a bid to attract more tourists.
In the ‘Summer Well Spent’ campaign, Mataranka Thermal Pool was ranked number seven in the top 10 NT swimming spots.
Leliyn Falls was named number 9.
The campaign’s featured article ‘Holiday in the Top End this Wet Season’ featured Crocasaurus Cove, Parap Markets and Guluyambi Cultural Cruise.
Related: Wet season hits tourism
Katherine Times has asked the government why Nitmiluk does not feature in the campaign and is awaiting response.
The ‘Summer Well Spent’ campaign is an extension of the ‘Do the NT’ tourism campaign and will run from November 4 – January 31.
You can head to www.northernterritory.com/summerwellspent to see the campaign.
