Kakadu welcomes Easter holiday visitors

Parks Australia’s plan to prioritise the opening of six major visitor sites at Kakadu National Park has received support at the Kakadu Tourism Industry Forum as work to upgrade critical infrastructure and open key sites for the peak tourism season continues. 
Parks Australia Assistant Secretary, Kakadu National Park, Brant Smith, said the forum held recently was an opportunity for industry to share their views and ideas for future improvements at Kakadu and learn more about work already underway. 
“Parks Australia recognises that it’s been a challenging start to the year for the tourism industry on many fronts. The aim of the forum was to hear direct from industry about how we can support them now and into the future, particularly through the development of the Kakadu Tourism Master Plan and Roads Strategy,” Mr Smith said.
“We know that when Kakadu shines as the jewel in the crown, the whole Top End thrives. We want to provide visitors with even more reasons to Holiday Here This Year and we’re working towards opening a range of popular visitor sites at Kakadu in time for the Easter long weekend in April. This is part of a broader commitment to open six key visitor sites for six months of the year to provide certainty of access for visitors and the tourism industry. 
 “In addition to earlier site openings, we’re finalising upgrades to the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre, and preparing to upgrade viewing platforms at Cahills Crossing, both are some of the park’s most popular visitor sites.  
“Our major events calendar which includes the Kakadu Klash fishing competition, Taste of Kakadu and Kakadu Bird Week, are key drivers for tourism visitation. Interstate and international visitors account for 60 per cent of the attendees at Taste of Kakadu, and with the 
festival returning with a bumper 10-day program this May, this is another initiative which will attract visitors to the park.”
Deputy CEO Department of Tourism, Sport and Culture, Andrew Hopper, said Tourism NT was continuing to work closely with Parks Australia and industry to support the opening of key Kakadu sites.
“It’s extremely positive that NT operators had an opportunity to meet directly with Parks Australia and we collectively look forward to the confirmation of which key Kakadu National Park sites will be opened in time for Easter 2020,” Mr Hopper said
“In addition to sites typically open for the majority of the year, we also welcome the focus on opening six sites consistently every year, which will allow our tourism operators to plan for future seasons with certainty.”