Northern Territory’s Ross River Resort to close to the public

The owners of the Ross River Resort, sited 84 kilometres east of Alice Springs in the Eastern MacDonnell Ranges, have advised that the site will close to the general public from 1st October but that it will continue to stage events, functions and festivals.

The owners, Grollo Group, say escalating crime in Alice Springs has led to both a downturn in business and rising costs.

In a letter to Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson and newly elected Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro, representatives of the resort cited an "alarming rise" in youth crime, noting “these challenges have escalated to the point where they are not only severely affecting the quality of life for local residents but are also having a detrimental impact on local businesses and the tourism sector."

Explaining that while the resort was not directly affected by crime in Alice Springs but that a fall in visitors to the region ultimately affected numbers visiting Ross River, Grollo Group co-Director, Martin Ansell advised “general tourism would have dropped off 50 to 60% from the previous year.”

Ansell said a number of factors merged into the "perfect storm" and the business had to "stop the bleeding to survive", noting “it's costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to keep it (the resort) maintained.

Ansell called on the local and Northern Territory governments to "take decisive steps to restore the safety and stability to our town”, adding “the time to act is now before livelihoods are lost.”

Ansell said he was looking forward to engaging and having that conversation with the Northern Territory Government, going on to say “our ideas are open, we love Ross River - it's quite a special little place out there and in a beautiful part of the world."

The closure of the three-star will result in job losses for about five staff members, with efforts being made to retain key personnel for future events.

Ansell said conferences, events and music festivals could still be held at the site - near the Trephina Gorge Nature Park - if there were enough people.

Tourism Central Australia Chief Executive Danial Rochford said the decision was heartbreaking for the region, commenting “this is just continuing that downward trend for our destination.

"The challenges that we've had to have faced as a region and as an industry have been immeasurable.

"This is just another sad reality of the fragility of the tourism industry here in Alice Springs."

Ross River Resort images, top, courtesy of The Grollo Group and below, Caravanning Northern Territory.