Tour operators at Kakadu National Park unleash after access to key sites is blocked by local Indigenous groups
A frustrated tour operator at Kakadu National Park says restricted access to key sites is making it impossible for businesses and discouraging tourists from visiting.
A frustrated tour operator at Kakadu National Park says restricted access to key sites is making it impossible for businesses and discouraging tourists from visiting.
Greig Taylor of Charter North 4WD Safaris said tourist visits to the Northern Territory park have fallen from 250,000 in 1998 to around 160,000, as access to main sites is regularly prevented by the management committee.
The committee, made up chiefly of local Aboriginal groups, is unaccountable and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is unresponsive to the pleas of tour operators.
The biggest problem that we have around Kakadu National Park and the lack of access to key sites is actually designing itineraries, Mr Taylor said on Wednesday.
He told 2GBs Ben Fordham that putting itineraries out to the clients that want to make a booking (is) becoming impossible... beyond two months of our tourist season.
Mr Taylor, who has run tours of Kakadu for 30 years, said he is making a plea from the industry that is being financially ruined by the parks regular closures.
The lack of certainty for tour operators about where they can or cant take visitors means they cant guarantee access to potential clients, which puts many of them off going at all. People want to know what theyre going to see, he said.
Theyre coming a long way to see what is essentially a national icon, its an international treasure, and we cant even guarantee that theyre going to see those key sites.
Kakadu tourism operator Greig Taylor (pictured) says he and other businesses need help from the Environment Minister
Wurrkbarbar man and traditional owner Joshua Hunter is pictured at Kakadu National Park
He said in his three decades in the business, he has witnessed the decline of tourism in Kakadu as more and more sites are ruled off-limits to visitors, even though only a small percentage of the park was ever open to tourists.
Mr Taylor said this is having drastic financial consequences for tourism and the broader Northern Territory economy.
Its a huge part of our economy and it supports a lot of businesses like ours and we rely on access to Kakadu National Park, Mr Taylor said.
So what weve got in Kakadu National Park is a power base thats basically got a stronghold on the park and theyre not being held accountable.
He said the board of management that makes decisions about the park is predominantly made up of traditional owners of the area.
The reasons that were given (for the closures) often is either environmental reasons, infrastructure upgrades or... operational reasons.
So weve seen access to these key sites like Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls and Gunlom over the years decreased significantly to two to three months of the year, he said.
He said the tourism industry has spent years fruitlessly trying to work with Kakadu National Park management to grow and support tourism.
Tourism operators have slammed Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek (pictured), arguing she is unresponsive to the pleas of frustrated tour operators
An aerial view of Jim Jim Falls in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia is pictured
He said he has also contacted Ms Plibersek about their problems, but got no response... theres been no action whatsoever.
The Australian people need to know whats happening because currently weve got a situation where nothing is changing, nobodys taking action, Mr Taylor said.
Theres no conversation around this whatsoever, and us as business operators and the Northern Territory tourism as a whole, we are continuing to suffer. Its just crazy.
He claimed the situation has got so bad that international inbound tour agents who sell packaged Australian itineraries to visitors have now struck Kakadu off their list.
Theyre not even selling Kakadu. This is an absolute disaster and disgrace for what is a national treasure. Its one of our great World Heritage sites.
A young man is pictured fishing at Gunlom Falls, Kakadu National Park, NT, October 22, 2024
Nourlangie Rock (Burrungkuy) in Kadaku National Park, a famous sandstone escarpment and Aboriginal rock art site, is pictured
He said the environmentally conscious visitors to Kakadu do no damage and that just three per cent of the park was ever opened for tourism, so there was little to no impact on its untouched beauty.
Were calling on the minister... were calling on anybody that gets into federal government at the next election to start tackling this issue because its really affecting small business, Mr Taylor said.
Were losing visitors year on year, both domestic and international. Its an absolute nightmare.
Fordham agreed, saying weve got this beautiful part of Australia that we should be showing off to ourselves and everyone else.
And its another example of no-go zones in Australia. Its brain dead crazy if you ask me.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Plibersek and Kakadu National Park for comment.