Naracoorte Caves National Park attracts record-breaking number of people

Increased demand for domestic and regional tourism has resulted in a record-breaking number of people visiting South Australia’s Naracoorte Caves National Park. With COVIDSafe operating arrangements in place, additional tours have been introduced to keep up with the demand.

The rise in visitor numbers at the caves comes following recent upgrades to improve site amenities, including the installation of a new playground and added accessible tourism experiences.

For the past financial year, Naracoorte Caves has 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.

Tantanoola Caves also recorded a significant increase in the number of visitors with 26,000 tour participants, the highest number in many years.

South Australian Minister for Environment and Water David Speirs said regional tourist destinations across the state have been experiencing record levels of popularity.

Minister Speirs notes “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.

“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.”

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.

Minister Speirs added “It’s important that we keep improving the experiences we offer, so we’re also undertaking further research on the scientific aspects of the sites’ outstanding fossil records and working closely with local business and tourism operators.

For more information go to www.naracoortecaves.sa.gov.au

Image courtesy southaustraliantrails.com/trails/world-heritage-hike/