How Many People Visit Fraser Island (K’gari)?

Updated 14 Oct 2026

About 500,000 people visit K’gari (Fraser Island) each year, making it one of the most popular destinations managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.¹ Most visitors are Australian, and September is the busiest month².

K’gari is the world’s largest sand island, a World Heritage-listed area of about 166,000 hectares off the coast of Queensland³, famous for its lakes, rainforests and Seventy-Five Mile Beach.

How many people visit Fraser Island (K’gari) each year?

An estimated 500,000 people visit K’gari (Fraser Island) each year.¹

No agency publishes a yearly visitor count for the island. The closest yearly measure is camper nights at its national park campsites, where one camper night is one person staying one night². The latest published figure is for 2023, when visitors spent more than 337,000 camper nights on the island.¹ No figures for 2024 or 2025 have been published yet.

In the first six months of 2022 alone, visitors spent 146,612 camper nights on the island.²
In 2021, camper nights rebounded 35% to 287,758, back above pre-pandemic levels as travel restrictions eased.²
In 2020, camper nights fell 22% to 212,604², hit by COVID-19 travel restrictions and a large bushfire late in the year³.
In 2019, before the pandemic, visitors spent 273,495 camper nights on the island, in line with 269,000 to 287,000 a year since 2016.²

Column chart of camper nights on K’gari by year: about 287,000 in 2016, 281,000 in 2017, 269,000 in 2018, 273,000 in 2019, 213,000 in 2020, 288,000 in 2021, no full-year figure for 2022, and more than 337,000 in 2023. — Camper nights at Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service campsites on the island.[2] No agency publishes a yearly visitor count. 2022 is left blank because only January to June was published (146,612 camper nights), and 2023 is the “more than 337,000” the Queensland Government reported.[1]

What else is there to see near K’gari?

Hervey Bay, the main jumping-off point for K’gari, is accredited as a Whale Heritage Site, and humpback whales can be seen there from July to October.⁵
Mon Repos, near Bundaberg, has the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the eastern Australian mainland.⁶
Cooloola, south of Rainbow Beach, has towering coastal sand cliffs, coloured sands and beach driving.⁷
Further south, on the way back to Brisbane, are Noosa and the Sunshine Coast.

Where do Fraser Island’s international visitors come from?

The United Kingdom is the largest source of international visitors to the Fraser Coast region, which includes K’gari. In the year to September 2025, 24,000 of the region’s 77,000 international visitors came from the UK.⁸

International visitors to the region fell 16.9% over that year, and visitors from continental Europe fell 21.4% to 36,000.⁸
In the year to June 2025, the UK made up 30% of the region’s 80,000 international visitors.⁹ Germany was next with 9,000 visitors, about 11%, down 30.3% on the year before.
Smaller markets such as New Zealand are not reported separately for 2025 because their survey samples are too small.⁸

Donut chart of international visitors to the Fraser Coast region by source market in the year ending June 2025: United Kingdom 30%, Germany 11%, other markets 59%. — International visitors to the Fraser Coast region (which includes K’gari) by source market, year ending June 2025. New Zealand and other smaller markets are not published separately and are included in other markets.

How much do tourists spend on Fraser Island and the Fraser Coast?

Fraser Island (K’gari) is a popular tourism destination, but no figures are available for the island itself. However, it contributes to the overall tourist spend of the Fraser Coast region.

Visitors spent about $920 million in the Fraser Coast region in 2024-25, up 7% on the year before.¹⁰
International visitors alone spent $44.5 million in the region in the year to September 2025, down 10.3% on the year before⁸.
Overnight visitors spent $747 million in the region in the year to June 2024, up 63% on 2019, and day trippers spent another $129 million: about $876 million in total⁴.
Under Tourism Research Australia’s previous method, which can’t be compared directly with the 2024-25 figure, visitor spending in the region reached $847 million in 2022-23, up 25% on 2018-19.¹¹
Recovery started in 2020-21 at $656 million, rising to $739 million in 2021-22.¹¹
COVID-19 cut spending to $619 million in 2019-20, down 9% on the year before.¹¹
Before the pandemic, visitors spent $677 million in the region in 2018-19.¹¹

Line chart of visitor spending in the Fraser Coast region by financial year. On the previous method it rose from about $604 million in 2016-17 to $1.1 billion in 2023-24. On the new method introduced in 2024-25 it was $858 million in 2023-24 and $920 million in 2024-25. — Visitor spending (tourism consumption) in the Fraser Coast region, which includes K’gari, by financial year.[11] Tourism Research Australia changed its method in 2024-25, so the two lines are not directly comparable.[12]

Tourism jobs and the Fraser Coast economy

Tourism contributed an estimated $564.1 million to the Fraser Coast economy in 2024-25 and supported about 4,800 jobs, counting both direct and flow-on effects.¹⁰ The figures cover the whole region, including K’gari.

Tourism Research Australia changed how it calculates these figures for 2024-25, so they should not be compared directly with earlier estimates.¹²
In 2023-24, the last year on the old method, tourism contributed an estimated $1.2 billion to the region’s gross regional product and supported about 9,700 jobs, up from about 8,500 in 2022-23.¹¹
Visits to K’gari are a large part of Queensland’s $2.6 billion annual national parks tourism.³

What are the most popular attractions on Fraser Island?

There are no published visitor counts for individual sites on K’gari. In a 2022 Queensland Government survey, vehicle permit holders named the places they visit regularly¹³:

Eli Creek: 80% of respondents.¹³
Lake McKenzie (Boorangoora): 76%.¹³
Maheno Shipwreck: 66%.¹³
Champagne Pools: 66%.¹³
Indian Head: 63%.¹³
Eastern Beach (Seventy-Five Mile Beach): 59%.¹³
Central Station: 54%.¹³

Latest available: 2022 survey.

How many days do people spend on Fraser Island?

International visitors stayed an average of 5.8 nights in the Fraser Coast region in the year to September 2025, up 0.3 nights on the year before⁸, often as part of a longer East Coast itinerary.

Domestic visitors stay 3.7 nights⁴, usually for long weekends or holidays. That figure is for the year to June 2024, the latest available.

Busiest and quietest times to visit Fraser Island

September is the busiest month on K’gari (Fraser Island), driven by the tailor fishing season, followed by the Christmas and Easter holidays².

In 2024, the latest full year of published permit data, 12.4% of the year’s vehicle access permits started in September, more than in any other month.¹⁴
October (11.1%), December (10.9%) and August (10.7%) came next.¹⁴
February and June were the quietest months, with about 5% each.¹⁴
The pattern matches 2019, when 13% of the year’s vehicle access permits were sold in September², December and April had about 12% each, and February and June about 4% each.

Latest available: 2024. Queensland’s open permit data for 2025 is incomplete.

Grouped column chart of the share of K’gari vehicle access permits starting in each month, 2019 and 2024. September is the busiest month in both years (13.0% in 2019, 12.4% in 2024); February and June are the quietest, at about 4% to 5%. — Share of each year’s K’gari (Fraser Island) vehicle access permits by start month, 2019 and 2024.[2] 2024 is the latest full year in Queensland’s open permit data.[14]

Is there a limit on visitors to Fraser Island (K’gari)?

The Queensland Government is looking at how many vehicles and campers K’gari can take as visitor numbers grow. A study of the island released in 2024, with feedback from more than 1,500 stakeholders, tourism operators and community members, found camping areas get overcrowded at peak times¹.

The study recommended managing the number of vehicle access permits issued, tougher penalties for anti-social behaviour and zero tolerance for driving offences¹.
Its findings feed into a new management plan being developed with the island’s Traditional Owners, the Butchulla People¹.
Camping is a big part of a K’gari trip: by late May 2021, visitors had spent more than a quarter of a million nights on the island in 2020-21, already 38,000 more camping nights than in the whole of 2019-20³.

How many vehicle permits and camper nights are there each year?

In 2023, almost 67,000 vehicle access permits were bought for K’gari, and visitors spent more than 337,000 camper nights on the island.¹ Latest available: 2023.

How many dingo incidents are there on K’gari each year?

K’gari is home to about 200 wongari (dingoes), living in up to 30 packs across the island.¹⁵

Reported high-risk dingo incidents on K’gari fell to 19 in 2025, after rising sharply as visitors returned after COVID-19.¹⁶ The Queensland Environment Department counts injuries from bites as well as threatening behaviour such as lunging and stalking.

2025: 19 incidents.¹⁶
2024: 23 incidents.¹⁶
2023: 35 incidents.¹⁶
2022: 5 high-risk incidents.¹⁶

Seven dingoes were euthanased in 2023 and 2024, about half of them for animal welfare reasons.¹⁶

Fraser Island or K’gari? Why the name changed

Fraser Island was officially renamed K’gari in June 2023, restoring the name the Butchulla people have used for the island for more than 60,000 years¹⁷. K’gari comes from the Butchulla creation story of the white spirit sent down from the sky to help make the land and seas.

The change was gradual: the island’s section of the Great Sandy National Park was renamed K’gari (Fraser Island) in 2017, and its World Heritage Area in 2021¹⁷. Both names are still widely used.

More Australian tourism statistics

Campervan hire in Australia

References

Study informs future of management of K’gari · statements.qld.gov.au ↑ b c d e f g h
K'gari (Fraser Island) Sustainable Visitor Capacity and Management Study: Recommendations · parks.desi.qld.gov.au ↑ b c d e f g h i j
K’gari (Fraser Island) regrowth sees tourism rebound · statements.qld.gov.au ↑ b c d
Fraser Coast Regional Snapshot, year ending June 2024 · teq.queensland.com ↑ b c
Hervey Bay — Visit Fraser Coast · visitfrasercoast.com ↑
Mon Repos Conservation Park · parks.qld.gov.au ↑
Cooloola Recreation Area · parks.qld.gov.au ↑
Fraser Coast Regional Snapshot, year ending September 2025 · teq.queensland.com ↑ b c d e
Fraser Coast Regional Snapshot, year ending June 2025 · teq.queensland.com ↑
State and Regional Tourism Satellite Accounts 2024–25: Fraser Coast data tables · Tourism Research Australia ↑ b
Regional Tourism Satellite Account 2023–24: Fraser Coast data tables · Tourism Research Australia ↑ b c d e f
State and Regional Tourism Satellite Accounts 2024–25 · Tourism Research Australia ↑ b
K'gari (Fraser Island) Sustainable Visitor Capacity and Management Study: Technical Appendices · parks.qld.gov.au ↑ b c d e f g h
Camping and vehicle permits – QPWS permits issued for camping (Queensland Government Open Data Portal) · data.qld.gov.au ↑ b c d
Dingo management on K'gari · parks.qld.gov.au ↑
How dingo behaviour on K'gari changed in the years before Piper James's death · abc.net.au ↑ b c d e f
Traditional name restored to world’s largest sand island · teq.queensland.com ↑ b
Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service — Fraser Island (K’gari) statistics · parks.des.qld.gov.au
Visit Fraser Coast — regional tourism organisation data · visitfrasercoast.com