Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
But look, we are going to continue the discussion about
the announcement that happened on Monday the Northern Territory Government,
the Chief Minister indeed announcing the purchase of the Silkwod property.
It's a thirty thousand hectare parcel of land. The seven
point five million dollar deal. He's going to see Lichfield
National Park expanded by twenty percent and is the largest
(00:22):
addition to the National Park estate in twenty five years.
So what does the expansion of Litchfield National Park mean
when it comes to tourism. Well, joining me on the
show is Tourism Top Ends General Manager, Samantha Bennis. Good
morning to you, Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Morning Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Lovely to have you on the show. Now, sam what
was your reaction and what was the reaction of your
customers and stakeholders when you heard that the government have
made this move on Monday.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Oh, our tourism operators are really excited. This is going
to give us twenty percent more park. It's full of
beautiful experiences. It's got hot springs, hiking, swimming, We're looking
at mountain bike trails, all of those sort of things
that are what people come to visit us.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Yeah, mountain bike trails. I mean that sounds exciting. It's
something a lot of people go to Central Australia for.
But do we have like currently up here in the
top end. Is it something that people come to the
NT four Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Absolutely. I think they're a movement of their own, so
they'll go wherever the trails are. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
So it could be a bit of an expansion, I suppose,
not only in terms of the National Park getting bigger,
but some of those other avenues getting a little more enticing.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah. Absolutely. I think it's really about being able to
develop new product and I think it's something locals will
do as well. So I just everything about this is
great for us.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, So tell me a little bit more about you
know what some of the those tourism operators are saying
to you, particularly in terms of seeing the natural landscape
for wheel driving all of the above.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, I think because of the way our peak season works,
it's always pretty crowded in all of the parks because
everybody comes at the same time. But what operators are
really excited about is there may be an opportunity now
to operate into the lower seasons and have more on
of all year round and that is particularly good for
(02:35):
the international market because they tend to get out of
their winters in Europe and come in and our build
up and our wet season. So I think that the
fact that we might have access all year round to
some great new places will be really great for operators
to create new product and work better with trade in
the market.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Sam. When people come to the top end, what kind
of experiences are are they generally after.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
A lot of them do come for the wildlife, the wildlife,
the bird watching. They come to get out in nature.
They this year is really great for Catherine region. It's
really about regional dispersals so and it's it's good for
the operators in town as well, because basically everybody flies
(03:26):
in and drives out of here. So it's great that
they spend a couple of days in the hotels and
doing all the attractions in town and then they go
off and do their camping and their adventure stuff and
come back. And it's really interesting. The adventure market was
always the youth market, but the demographic of that is
getting older. They're the people that are really adventurous.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Well, what do we consider old, Sam, Because I suppose
I'm probably a bit more adventurous than I used to be.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Too, But I don't know what I can That's exactly right.
The generation we always did think of them as the
backpackers and as I said, that real young market. But
the older adventurers are really coming back in force. They
just like a soft place to land at the end
(04:16):
of the day.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Now, I know the Chief Minister had said to us
on the show on Monday, you know that there is
going to need to be a bit of a further
look in terms of how silk good will be developed
or not developed. But you know, any sort of you know,
infrastructure that might be required to support tourism out there,
ie you know, camping and some of the other four
(04:40):
wheel driving and that sort of thing. You know, what
do you think could be done in this new parcel
of land to bring more tourists to the top end.
Could we have more of those mountain biking trails? I mean,
could it be some further four wheel driving tracks? What
do you reckon needs to to be looked into over
(05:01):
the coming years.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I think keeping it quite quite the way it is
will be of benefit as well. I think that, as
you said, the four wheel drive tracks. But I also
think that there's a willingness from the private sector to
invest knowing that they've got to invest in their own
infrastructure as what's happened at Kuinda and a number of
(05:25):
other places. And the reason for that is they just
need to know that they've got you know, longevity in
their permits and you know they're going to be able
to operate there for ten years. Then they will spend
the money and create the product for us.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, spot on. That certainty does provide people with, you know,
I guess, the ability to be able to invest in
their businesses and try to get more people here. Sam,
How are Torism numbers looking at the moment? How are
we going from your perspective?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Oh, I think we're doing okay. We had a really
good May, but June was so But of course now
we're coming hard and fast into that event season. We've
just had the supercars, we've got the Turf Club starting
off kicking off today, Darwin Festival Motocross and some of
(06:18):
the regional stuff has been really good as well. The
numbers that Runga were excellent, taste of Takadu was really good.
So I think, you know, we've got to remember that
events is what people come for and we've just got
to be ready for them when they arrive.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Well Tourism Top End General Manager, Samantha Benish always good
to speak with you. Thank you so much for your
time this morning.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Thanks Katie, great you two
But look, we are going to continue the discussion about
the announcement that happened on Monday the Northern Territory Government,
the Chief Minister indeed announcing the purchase of the Silkwod property.
It's a thirty thousand hectare parcel of land. The seven
point five million dollar deal. He's going to see Lichfield
National Park expanded by twenty percent and is the largest
(00:22):
addition to the National Park estate in twenty five years.
So what does the expansion of Litchfield National Park mean
when it comes to tourism. Well, joining me on the
show is Tourism Top Ends General Manager, Samantha Bennis. Good
morning to you, Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Morning Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Lovely to have you on the show. Now, sam what
was your reaction and what was the reaction of your
customers and stakeholders when you heard that the government have
made this move on Monday.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Oh, our tourism operators are really excited. This is going
to give us twenty percent more park. It's full of
beautiful experiences. It's got hot springs, hiking, swimming, We're looking
at mountain bike trails, all of those sort of things
that are what people come to visit us.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Yeah, mountain bike trails. I mean that sounds exciting. It's
something a lot of people go to Central Australia for.
But do we have like currently up here in the
top end. Is it something that people come to the
NT four Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Absolutely. I think they're a movement of their own, so
they'll go wherever the trails are. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
So it could be a bit of an expansion, I suppose,
not only in terms of the National Park getting bigger,
but some of those other avenues getting a little more enticing.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah. Absolutely. I think it's really about being able to
develop new product and I think it's something locals will
do as well. So I just everything about this is
great for us.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, So tell me a little bit more about you
know what some of the those tourism operators are saying
to you, particularly in terms of seeing the natural landscape
for wheel driving all of the above.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, I think because of the way our peak season works,
it's always pretty crowded in all of the parks because
everybody comes at the same time. But what operators are
really excited about is there may be an opportunity now
to operate into the lower seasons and have more on
of all year round and that is particularly good for
(02:35):
the international market because they tend to get out of
their winters in Europe and come in and our build
up and our wet season. So I think that the
fact that we might have access all year round to
some great new places will be really great for operators
to create new product and work better with trade in
the market.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Sam. When people come to the top end, what kind
of experiences are are they generally after.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
A lot of them do come for the wildlife, the wildlife,
the bird watching. They come to get out in nature.
They this year is really great for Catherine region. It's
really about regional dispersals so and it's it's good for
the operators in town as well, because basically everybody flies
(03:26):
in and drives out of here. So it's great that
they spend a couple of days in the hotels and
doing all the attractions in town and then they go
off and do their camping and their adventure stuff and
come back. And it's really interesting. The adventure market was
always the youth market, but the demographic of that is
getting older. They're the people that are really adventurous.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Well, what do we consider old, Sam, Because I suppose
I'm probably a bit more adventurous than I used to be.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Too, But I don't know what I can That's exactly right.
The generation we always did think of them as the
backpackers and as I said, that real young market. But
the older adventurers are really coming back in force. They
just like a soft place to land at the end
(04:16):
of the day.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Now, I know the Chief Minister had said to us
on the show on Monday, you know that there is
going to need to be a bit of a further
look in terms of how silk good will be developed
or not developed. But you know, any sort of you know,
infrastructure that might be required to support tourism out there,
ie you know, camping and some of the other four
(04:40):
wheel driving and that sort of thing. You know, what
do you think could be done in this new parcel
of land to bring more tourists to the top end.
Could we have more of those mountain biking trails? I mean,
could it be some further four wheel driving tracks? What
do you reckon needs to to be looked into over
(05:01):
the coming years.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I think keeping it quite quite the way it is
will be of benefit as well. I think that, as
you said, the four wheel drive tracks. But I also
think that there's a willingness from the private sector to
invest knowing that they've got to invest in their own
infrastructure as what's happened at Kuinda and a number of
(05:25):
other places. And the reason for that is they just
need to know that they've got you know, longevity in
their permits and you know they're going to be able
to operate there for ten years. Then they will spend
the money and create the product for us.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, spot on. That certainty does provide people with, you know,
I guess, the ability to be able to invest in
their businesses and try to get more people here. Sam,
How are Torism numbers looking at the moment? How are
we going from your perspective?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Oh, I think we're doing okay. We had a really
good May, but June was so But of course now
we're coming hard and fast into that event season. We've
just had the supercars, we've got the Turf Club starting
off kicking off today, Darwin Festival Motocross and some of
(06:18):
the regional stuff has been really good as well. The
numbers that Runga were excellent, taste of Takadu was really good.
So I think, you know, we've got to remember that
events is what people come for and we've just got
to be ready for them when they arrive.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Well Tourism Top End General Manager, Samantha Benish always good
to speak with you. Thank you so much for your
time this morning.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Thanks Katie, great you two
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