Editor's Blog

Youth travellers spend over $7000 on average for their trip to Australia, according to statistics from Tourism Australia. The spend triples with those who stay over six months. Tourism NT (Northern Territory) is now planning its biggest roadshow targeting backpackers in order to get a cut of the youth tourist dollar.

Backpackers will be encouraged to ‘Do the NT’ as part of their Australian holiday under a new marketing initiative by the Northern Territory Government to launch early next year.

Tourism NT’s has announced that the inaugural ‘Backpack the Outback’ Roadshow will hit backpacker hot spots in Melbourne, Sydney and Byron Bay from 31 March – 6 April 2016.

The new roadshow is just one of several new initiatives and marketing campaigns planned for 2016 to help boost backpacker numbers to the Northern Territory.

“The Backpack the Outback roadshow will see local tourism operators and Tourism NT promote the Northern Territory as a must-do Australian holiday destination for backpackers currently on the East Coast and in Australia’s major capital cities,” said Tourism NT CEO, Tony Mayell.

“We know the East Coast is experiencing strong growth in international visitors and backpackers and the Northern Territory wants a slice of the action. We’ll be targeting backpackers and saying to them: you haven’t done Australia unless you’ve done the Northern Territory – Australia’s real outback." Tourism NT CEO, Tony Mayell.

“Northern Territory has so much to offer young travellers from overseas including natural icons like Kakadu and Uluru, ancient Aboriginal culture, diverse landscapes, amazing wildlife, colourful characters and plenty of work opportunities.

“From the Red Centre to the Top End, the Northern Territory is home to crocodiles, epic road trips, wide open spaces, blue skies, spectacular sunsets, bustling markets, vibrant nightlife and a relaxed laid-back attitude. It’s an adventure not to be missed.”

In Melbourne, the backpacker promotion will coincide with an NT Outback Pub installation to be set up at Federation Square. The installation was held in Martin Place earlier this year and was extremely successful in raising the profile of the NT.

The other events will be held at similar high foot traffic locations in Sydney and backpacker haven, Byron Bay.

The inaugural Backpack the Outback roadshow will also include workshops with travel agents specialising in selling holidays to backpackers and the inaugural World Youth Student & Education (WYSE) Exchange in Sydney.

The WYSE Exchange is a leading Australian international youth travel industry event involving more than 30 international travel wholesalers.

Interested local operators wanting to attend the roadshow should contact Tourism NT on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

The new backpacker roadshow is part of the Government’s plan to drive the development of North Australia and build a $2.2 billion visitor economy by 2020.

Image by Stanislav Fosenbauer: Devils Marbles

The Devils Marbles are huge granite boulders scattered across a wide, shallow valley, 100 kilometres south of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.