Northern Territory Tourism Statistics

Published 20 Jan 2020 · Updated 26 June 2025

How many tourists visit the Northern Territory each year?

Over 1.64 million tourists visited the Northern Territory in 2024 (year ending December), combining both domestic and international travelers.

  • Domestic visitors accounted for about 1.42 million of these trips, while approximately 220,000 were international visitors.
  • Total visitation to the Northern Territory remained below pre-pandemic levels, the 2024 figure was around 18% lower than 2019’s peak of approximately 2 million.
Bar chart of Northern Territory tourist arrivals by year — international and domestic tourists for 2019, 2023 and 2024 (year ending December).
Northern Territory tourist arrivals by year — international vs domestic (year ending December).

How much did tourists spend in the Northern Territory in 2024?

Tourists spent approximately A$2.95 billion in the Northern Territory in the year ending December 2024.

  • This amount includes roughly A$2.48 billion from domestic travelers and about A$468 million from international visitors.
  • Overall tourist spending in 2024 was around 14% higher than the total in 2019 (approximately A$2.60 billion).
Total Visitor Spending in the Northern Territory
YearInternationalDomestic
2019A$0.44 BA$2.15 B
2023A$0.46 BA$2.50 B
2024A$0.47 BA$2.48 B

How many tourists visited the Northern Territory in 2023?

Over 1.5 million tourists and other visitors travelled to the Northern Territory in 2023 (year ending June 2023).

  • This total included 150,000 international visitors and over 1.4 million domestic visitors
  • Visitors were up 14.5% when compared with the over 1.3 million visitors in 2022 Visitor numbers in 2023 are on par with the over 1.5 million who visited in 2019

How much did visitors spend in the Northern Territory in 2023?

Visitors spent over $3 billion during trips to the Northern Territory in 2023. (year ending June 2023).

  • This total included $339 million from international visitors and over $2.6 billion from domestic overnight visitors
  • Spending was up 42% when compared with the over $2.1 billion spent during 2022 (year ending June)

How many tourists visit Uluru each year?

  • Uluru had a total of 222,118 visitors in 2022 (year ending December 2022)1
  • After record numbers in 2019, visitor numbers have taken a significant hit due to the impact of the pandemic
  • Visitor numbers in 2023 are predicted to be lower than the previous year, with only 164,678 visiting so far this year (YTD October)
Bar chart of annual visitors to Uluru from 2018 to 2023 (year to date October), year ending December.
Annual visitors to Uluru, 2018–2023 (year ending December).

How many people visited the Northern Territory in 2022?

Over 1.4 million travellers visited the northern territory in 2022 (year ending September 2022).

  • This total included 43,913 international visitors and over 1.4 million domestic visitors
  • Total visitors increased by 9% when compared with the over 1.3 million visitors in 2021 (year ending September 2021)

How much did visitors spend in the Northern Territory in 2022?

Visitors spent over 2.5 billion during trips to the Northern Territory in 2022 (year ending September 2022).

  • This total included $107 million from international visitors and over $2.5 billion from domestic visitors
  • Spending was up 38% when compared with the over 1.8 billion spent during 2021 (year ending September 2021)

How many people visited the Northern Territory in 2021?

Over 1.3 million travellers visited the Northern Territory in 2021 (year ending September 2021).

  • This total was made up of 4,189 international visitors and over 1.3 million domestic visitors

How much did visitors spend in the Northern Territory in 2021?

Visitors spent over $1.8 billion during trips to the Northern Territory in 2021 (year ending September 2021).

  • This total included $25 million from international visitors and over $1.8 billion from domestic visitors

How many tourists visited the Northern Territory in 2020?

Over 1.5 million travellers visited the Northern Territory in the year ending June 20202.

  • This total was made up of 233,000 domestic visitors and over 1.3 million domestic visitors
  • Visitors to the Northern Territory decreased by 21% when compared to the 1.9 million visitors of 2018/19.

Impact of the Coronavirus on Tourism Expenditure in the Northern Territory

International

International visitors spent a total of $338 million during trips to the Northern Territory in the year ending June 2020

  • International spending was down 25.5% when compared to the $454 million of the 2018/19

Domestic

Domestic visitors spent a total of $1.5 billion during trips to the Northern Territory in the year ending June 2020

  • Domestic spending was down 33.3% when compared to the $2 billion of the 2018/19 year

Total

Combined, visitors to the Northern Territory spent a total of $1.8 billion in the year ending June 2020

  • Spending was down 25.3% when compared with the $2.5 billion of the previous year
Infographic comparing Australian state tourism expenditure in 2019 versus 2020, with the percentage decrease for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Impact of the coronavirus on state tourism revenue — 2019 vs 2020 spend and percentage decrease by state.

How many tourists visited the Northern Territory in 2019?

Over 1.9 million tourists and other visitors arrived in the Northern Territory between July 2018 and June 20192.

  • This total includes 294,000 international visitors and 1,700,00 domestic overnight visitors.

How many tourists visit Alice Springs each year?

  • Over 460,000 people visited Alice Springs in 20183.

How much do visitors spend at Alice Springs?

  • Visitors spent over $356 million during trips to Alice Springs in 2018.

How long do visitors stay at Alice Springs?

  • Visitors stayed for an average of 5 nights during visits to Alice Springs in 2018.
  • Visitors spent spent over 1.8 million visitor nights in Alice Springs in 2018.

Campervan hire in Australia

References

  1. Parks Australia — Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park visitor statistics · Parks Australia
  2. TRA — International tourism results, Australia, March 2024 · tra.gov.au b
  3. Cairns Local Government area profile 2019 · tra.gov.au