The Department for Environment and Water (DEW) has reported that increased demand for regional travel and ‘holidaying at home’ has resulted in a record-breaking number of people visiting Naracoorte Caves National Park.
DEW said a record number of people had toured the Naracoorte and Tantanoola Caves in the past year.
It said that in the past financial year, Naracoorte Caves had set a new benchmark for visitors touring its World Heritage-listed ancient fossil experiences, recording 82,700 tour tickets sold, smashing its 20-year-old record of 79,000.
DEW said Tantanoola Caves had also recorded a significant increase in the number of visitors with 26,000 tour participants, the highest number in many years.
Ranger for the Limestone Coast District of the DEW, Nick McIntyre said regional tourist destinations across the State had experienced record levels of popularity.
“This is the most people we’ve seen come through the doors at the Naracoorte and Tantanoola Caves since the Wonambi Fossil Centre opened in 1998,” Mr McIntyre said.
“This is an amazing result for tourism in the Limestone Coast and follows a trend across the State with regional South Australia as popular as ever with visitor numbers going through the roof in the past couple of years,” he said.
“It continues to provide a significant economic boost to our regions and support local jobs at a time when it is needed most as we continue to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Mr McIntyre said additional tours to keep up with the demand were operating under a COVID-safe plan.
He said recent upgrades to the caves included improvements to site amenities, including the installation of a new playground and added accessible tourism experiences.
A new audio-visual tour experience for Victoria Fossil Cave is also due for completion later this year. It will feature animated videos of what extinct animals would have looked like, how they moved, and the environments that they lived in at the time, based on discoveries in the cave’s fossil deposits.
Further information, including how to book tour tickets, can be accessed on the National Parks and Wildlife Service website at this PS News link.
