Tourism is a major employer and contributor to the Northern Territory economy, with the sector offering a range of unique natural and cultural experiences to national and international visitors. Tourism is a highly competitive industry and growing our visitor numbers and expenditure will require careful consideration of how we will compete with other destinations in Australia and across the globe.

To grow the tourism industry, government and industry need to work together to improve existing products and to identify, develop and promote opportunities for tourism infrastructure and products to ensure we meet visitor expectations and continually strive to improve the visitor experience.

The key determinants of tourism’s impact on the Northern Territory economy are how many visitors come here, how long they stay, how much they spend, and the profits retained in the Territory by tourism operators. It is important that we promote the compelling reasons to visit the Territory, and make it as easy and safe as possible to experience what the Territory has to offer. Improving the suite of products and experiences for visitors is critical, as is removing unintended barriers to tourism businesses. Achieving this will require industry to work with all levels of governments to make it easier to create better visitor experiences.

High level action	Measure	Lead / partners	Lever
Grow the value of the visitor economy in the Territory	Increase overnight visitor expenditure in the Territory	NT Govt (NTG) Industry
Undertake market research to identify opportunities to develop tourism products to activate the regions, including leveraging national parks and the Crown estate, partnerships with Traditional Owners and leveraging private sector investment and expertise	Tourism products delivered	Industry Traditional Owners NTG
Work with airlines to build demand for sustainable aviation services to, and within, the Territory, including attracting direct airline services from China and other high potential markets such as New Zealand	Increased aviation capacity New routes established	NTG Industry
Develop niche market and product segments such as working holiday makers, luxury, bushwalking, birdwatching, mountain biking, sporting events, international study tour groups and Defence personnel	Increased visitor numbers	Tourism Traditional Owners Industry NTG
Increase the number of quality Aboriginal cultural experiences, and develop Aboriginal people’s interest and capacity to work in tourism	Increased number of Aboriginal cultural products listed on the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse Increased number of Aboriginal tourism workers	NTG Industry Traditional Owners Aust Govt
Work with local governments and property owners to reinvigorate the city areas of Darwin, Alice Springs and other regional centres	Central Business District (CBD) areas reinvigorated	NTG Local governments
Ensure tourism issues are adequately considered in planning decisions to reinvigorate Darwin and Alice Springs CBDs	Revitalisation planning begins Agreed projects are funded	NTG Local governments
Work with local stakeholders and the Australian Government to improve economic development opportunities in all of the Territory’s parks, including Kakadu (with links to Arnhem Land) and Uluru-Kata Tjuta	Increased economic development opportunities Increased visitor numbers to national parks	NTG Traditional Owners Aust Govt
Work with local stakeholders and the Australian Government to plan for the future of Jabiru	Clear objectives and strategies for Jabiru	NTG Traditional Owners Aust Govt
Advocate to open attractions and develop infrastructure to attract more tourists to Kakadu	Current Parks Australia Plan for South Kakadu is implemented Increased visitor numbers to Kakadu	NTG Traditional Owners Industry
Promote the Territory as a cruise destination, and Darwin as a home port for expedition ships	Number of cruise ships calling in to Darwin Port Number of expedition ships home porting in Darwin	NTG Industry