FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tourism NT Unveils “Best Kept Season” Campaign to Lure Off-Peak Travelers With Crowd-Free, Value-Rich Experiences
New national push positions the Northern Territory’s September–April low season as the smartest time to discover waterfalls, festivals and frontier culture while saving up to 30 % on peak tariffs.
Darwin, Australia – 22 November 2025
The Northern Territory’s visitor economy will enter the 2025–26 summer with its most aggressive off-season push to date after Tourism NT today officially launched the “Best Kept Season” campaign, a data-driven initiative designed to flatten seasonality and deliver an estimated AUD 68 million in incremental visitor spend.
Running nationally from 2 September to 30 November 2025, the campaign is built on fresh research showing 62 % of Australian travelers are now “very likely” to holiday outside school-holiday windows to escape crowds and secure better value . The drive positions the NT’s steamier months as a premium period for immersive, crowd-free encounters—from thundering Top-End waterfalls to the 2026 Parrtima light festival beneath a star-rich desert sky.
“The Territory is no longer a dry-season-only destination,” said Monika Tonkin, Acting Chief Marketing Officer, Tourism NT.
“Our data reveal travelers want authenticity over convenience; they’re chasing flowing waterfalls, lush barramundi runs and the world’s oldest living culture without jostling for a photo. ‘Best Kept Season’ converts that latent demand into booked beds, filled tours and extended regional stays.”
The campaign is anchored by a multi-channel media buy worth AUD 3.2 million, placing deal-led creative across Jetstar, Qantas, Tripadvisor, Luxury Escapes, Expedia and Helloworld. Conversion assets highlight average shoulder-season savings of 28 % on accommodation and 15 % on touring products, figures corroborated by a 2024 Deloitte Access Economics study that found off-peak discounts are the single strongest trigger for itinerary change among domestic travelers .
Creative executions lean into hyper-local storytelling: a Darwin chef foraging green ants for a tasting-menu dessert, a Kakaiuguide revealing rock-art sites reopened by monsoon rains, and a couple photographing the Milky Way at 3 a.m. during the Alice Springs Beanie Festival. Content is delivered via 15-second BVOD spots, Instagram Reels and a downloadable self-drive itinerary app developed with SmartGuide, ensuring travelers can book experiences in fewer than three clicks.
Trade support is equally robust. More than 120 “Best Kept Season” packages have been uploaded by 87 local operators, ranging from AUD 99 helifishing add-ons to five-day luxury lodges offering complimentary helicopter transfers. Early results are promising: since pre-sale began on 1 October, forward bookings for November are tracking 19 % ahead of the same point last year, while hotel occupancy in Katherine has jumped from 48 % to 71 % .
The push aligns with a broader industry pivot toward regenerative tourism. By smoothing visitor flow, the NT expects to cut peak-season infrastructure strain by an estimated 11 % and sustain an additional 470 full-time equivalent jobs during the traditional low season. Environmental benefits include a projected 8 % reduction in per-capita carbon emissions as travelers linger longer in-region rather than fly multiple short-haul sectors.
“Every dollar spent in the low season circulates an extra 1.6 times through remote economies,” Tonkin added.
“That means more Aboriginal-owned art centres stay open, more guides remain employed and more cafés keep their doors open through summer. This is tourism as an economic equaliser.”
National reach will be amplified through co-marketing partnerships with Australian Geographic, the Hamish & Andy podcast and a branded content series on SBS’s Alone Australia, collectively forecast to generate 110 million impressions before 30 November. Famil programs for 70 top-tier travel agents and 30 niche media influencers depart next week, prioritising experiential journalists from wellness, fishing and photography verticals.
About Tourism NT
Tourism NT is the Northern Territory Government agency responsible for marketing the Territory as a leisure, business and study destination. Working with regional tourism organisations, airlines and 400 accredited operators, the board’s mandate is to grow visitor expenditure to AUD 1.4 billion by 2030 while advancing sustainable, community-led tourism.
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