Massive drop in Alice Springs visitor nights

By ERWIN CHLANDA

The annual number of visitors nights in Alice Springs has dropped by more than one third since 2001.

That raises questions about the performance of the Tourist Commission and its predecessors during a quarter of a century.

Statistics we obtained form the Australian Trade and Investment Commission show that 1.27 million nights were spent here by tourists in 2001.

In 2024 (the latest figures available) the number was 792,000.

A peak was reached in 2018 with 1.6 million.

We're still way below the level before the pandemic.

After a rise in 2021 we had two years of decline (see our graph).

The industry is not optimistic that 2026 will bring dramatic improvements.