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Peter Hook spoke to Katie Woolf about the bumper weekend in Kakadu · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: It was a busy weekend for so many out there
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  Speaker 1: around the Northern Territory, and I understand that Kackadoo, well
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  Speaker 1: they had a pretty busy weekend as well. And joining
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  Speaker 1: me on the line right now as Kackadoo Tourism spokesperson
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  Speaker 1: Peter Hook, good morning to you.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, and you're absolutely right, it was choccing.
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  Speaker 1: How busy was it out at Kackadoo over the weekend.
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  Speaker 2: Look, it was full, both the Crocodile Hotel, Kuinda, the campgrounds,
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  Speaker 2: everything was just at one hundred percent. And look, I
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  Speaker 2: mean that was actually fantastic news because obviously we've had
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  Speaker 2: two years of very stop start business and in fact,
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  Speaker 2: of course we don't even have international guests or not many,
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  Speaker 2: so really it couldn't have gone you know, it couldn't
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  Speaker 2: have been more busy. I suppose, Yeah, Peter.
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  Speaker 1: You hit the nail on the head there. I think
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  Speaker 1: that for so many of our tourism operators, whether it's
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  Speaker 1: in Kackadoo or Central Australia or wherever you're talking about,
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  Speaker 1: it's been a really tough couple of years. So it's
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  Speaker 1: actually wonderful thing to hear that you've had a cracking
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  Speaker 1: weekend for asta.
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  Speaker 2: Look it is Look, I have to say one other thing, okay,
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  Speaker 2: is that you know it's like going from zero to
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  Speaker 2: one hundred miles per hour, you know, from stop, from
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  Speaker 2: stop to start. And therefore it has had its challenges
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  Speaker 2: because obviously, and you know you heard it in the
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  Speaker 2: previous interview, we just don't have enough people and so
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  Speaker 2: starting is a real challenge. People want these outback areas,
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  Speaker 2: they want wilderness. You know, we've got that Matt Wright
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  Speaker 2: program a wild TV I think it's called on Channel
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  Speaker 2: nine tomorrow, all about crocs and out back and top end.
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  Speaker 2: And we had Obama, you know, talking about Kakado in
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  Speaker 2: his series. So the thing is everybody wants it, but
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  Speaker 2: you can't suddenly sort of go from sort of virtually
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  Speaker 2: very quiet to extreme overnight. So it is a little
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  Speaker 2: bit challenging. We welcome everybody coming along. It's just going
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  Speaker 2: to take a little while before you know, we get
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  Speaker 2: up to our optimum service standards. But look, the desire
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  Speaker 2: is there. Everybody wants people back. It's just it's just
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  Speaker 2: so heart warming to see so many people there for
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  Speaker 2: that Easter period.
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  Speaker 1: I bet it was Peter talk us through those staffing
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  Speaker 1: challenges though I know this, it's something that's being experienced
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  Speaker 1: right around the Northern Territory at the moment. I saw
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  Speaker 1: over the weekend, you know, there was some some businesses
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  Speaker 1: that actually couldn't open over the weekend because that had
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  Speaker 1: staff with COVID. So things like that as well sort
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  Speaker 1: of can throw you out too.
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  Speaker 2: Look it can, and you know it's not like Darwin
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  Speaker 2: ok Kakidu. You can't just sort of suddenly get a
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  Speaker 2: higher firm to supply staff. So we're building up and
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  Speaker 2: in fact, you know, we're looking at a lot of
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  Speaker 2: different ways of getting staff up and of course the
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  Speaker 2: backpacking sector is beginning to start again, but it is
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  Speaker 2: going to take a while. So look, we were able
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  Speaker 2: to operate all the hotel world, but we did have
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  Speaker 2: to limit the restaurant service to only in house guests
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  Speaker 2: because of a lack of stuff. But look, that is
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  Speaker 2: growing and in fact, what we'd love to see and
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  Speaker 2: I heard it a bit in your previous interviews that
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  Speaker 2: there needs to be ways of getting people and Australians,
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  Speaker 2: you know, people from the Southern States up to the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory to work in these remote areas because it's
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  Speaker 2: an incredible experience, and I think this is where we
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  Speaker 2: probably do need governments federal, state, local, doesn't matter, trying
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  Speaker 2: to impress people that you know, instead of a gap
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  Speaker 2: year overseas, come and to a gap year in the
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  Speaker 2: northern territory. What an incredible experience to be part of it.
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  Speaker 2: But look, you know, we're doing things slowly because after
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  Speaker 2: two years of really difficult times, we're seeing some you know,
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  Speaker 2: very positive science, which is good.
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  Speaker 1: Peter talk us through the weekend. Was it mostly locals
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  Speaker 1: or international or interstate visit that were out at Kakadoo?
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  Speaker 2: Largely interstate, because what you've got to remember is that
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people did cancel their tours over the
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  Speaker 2: last two years, so they've rebooked. But then again a
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  Speaker 2: lot of locals, and of course we've got three long
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  Speaker 2: weekends in a row of actually coming up, and so
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  Speaker 2: we do have a lot of territori ends coming in.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, this is probably the best time to
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  Speaker 2: come because you know, the international market hasn't returned as
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  Speaker 2: yet in anywhere near strength, so probably this is a
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  Speaker 2: great time for domestic travelers to come to Kakadoo. Even
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  Speaker 2: though I have to say bookings are very very tight
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  Speaker 2: during the dry season. So you know, probably if if
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  Speaker 2: you are looking to come to Kakado, you need to
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  Speaker 2: look early, you need to have a bit of flexibility.
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  Speaker 2: But we'd love to have everybody there.
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  Speaker 1: And what feedback have you heard from the operators out there?
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  Speaker 1: And you know from those work are people pretty you know,
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  Speaker 1: have they been pretty positive to to you know, to
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  Speaker 1: what's happening at the moment.
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  Speaker 2: Look, people are understanding. I think anyone who watched all
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  Speaker 2: those scenes from the you know, from Sydney and Melbourne
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  Speaker 2: about airport's being absolutely crowded, they understand our industry is,
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  Speaker 2: it's got its challenges. People understand that. But I think
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  Speaker 2: what people are happy to do is that if they
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  Speaker 2: know the destination is going to provide this incredible experience.
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  Speaker 2: And the beauty about Ca Cando over that weekend is
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  Speaker 2: that a lot of the water holes were open so
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  Speaker 2: people were able to get around, they were able to
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  Speaker 2: enjoy it. They are understanding. They are understanding because they're
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  Speaker 2: in such an incredible natural environment. And look, that's all
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  Speaker 2: we had ask. You know, we're obviously going to do
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  Speaker 2: our absolute best, but like every other tourism business and
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  Speaker 2: many other businesses, in the top end. We do have
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  Speaker 2: labor issues, but we're trying to rectify those as quickly
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  Speaker 2: as possible.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it sounds like it's you know, it does sound
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  Speaker 1: like it's a big issue for a lot of our
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  Speaker 1: operators around the Northern Territory. No matter what industry you're
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  Speaker 1: talking about. At the moment, it's tough going in terms
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  Speaker 1: of trying to fill all of those different jobs. And
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  Speaker 1: I guess that it's something that's being experienced all around Australia,
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  Speaker 1: but particularly for us in the territory right now, we
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  Speaker 1: are we're feeling it.
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  Speaker 2: Well, certainly with the turning off of the tap for
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  Speaker 2: international travelers for experience and backpackers, because look, let's say
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  Speaker 2: that that's because we're a very seasonal business. That's where
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  Speaker 2: we get a lot of our labor from and that
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  Speaker 2: tap was just turned off for two years, for over
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  Speaker 2: two years, so you can't just immediately turn that back on.
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  Speaker 2: But look, we do think once people understand that the
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  Speaker 2: tourism business is absolutely flourishing in the top end, people
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  Speaker 2: want to go there and it really is a remarkable experience.
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  Speaker 2: So I think, you know, this is a message to
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  Speaker 2: anyone out there if they want to work. They want
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  Speaker 2: to work in hospitality and they want to do chefs
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  Speaker 2: or weight staff or whatever. Come to Kackadoo. We've got
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  Speaker 2: a great job for you.
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  Speaker 1: Peter. We know that the weekend was obviously busy with Easter.
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  Speaker 1: You did mention that the next few weekends or the
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  Speaker 1: next couple of weekends, we've got those long weekends coming
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  Speaker 1: up as well. Do you reckon the easter break visitation
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  Speaker 1: was somewhat indicative of the dry season coming up. Are
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  Speaker 1: we expecting to have a really busy dry season?
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  Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely, Look, we could see the pent up demand.
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  Speaker 2: There really has been an appetite to get out and
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  Speaker 2: particularly to wilderness areas. And look, the bookings throughout the
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  Speaker 2: dry season are very very strong. In fact, a tip
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  Speaker 2: to your listeners, Katie is that you know, if you're
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  Speaker 2: looking to probably come down to Kakado, probably look towards
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  Speaker 2: the end of August and September. September is a great
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  Speaker 2: time to go down there, especially if you love wildlife,
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  Speaker 2: because that's the best time of the year to see
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  Speaker 2: the incredible array of wildlife. So yeah, look, i'd call
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  Speaker 2: people that ring up our reservations people as they'll do
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  Speaker 2: their best, but it is pretty tight. You need to
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  Speaker 2: book well in advance.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, hey, Peter, before I let you go.
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  Speaker 2: We know that.
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  Speaker 1: Over the weekend, obviously, we saw that Australia has scrapped
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  Speaker 1: its COVID testing requirements for travelers entering or leaving the country.
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  Speaker 1: It is after more than two years since the pandemic began.
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  Speaker 1: We spoke to the Health Minister Natasha Files about this
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  Speaker 1: a bit earlier this morning and she confirmed that yes,
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  Speaker 1: that is the case. So from yesterday it wells travelers
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  Speaker 1: to Australia are no longer required to undertake a COVID
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  Speaker 1: nineteen pre departure test before boarding their flight. Do you
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  Speaker 1: think that this means that there is a little bit
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  Speaker 1: more certainty for those international travelers or it sort of
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  Speaker 1: takes away one of those additional steps and will maybe
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  Speaker 1: make it a bit easier for us to see more
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  Speaker 1: international tourists.
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  Speaker 2: Look both ways. Absolutely, you spot on, Katie, because once
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  Speaker 2: you put uncertainty in the way of of long haul travel,
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  Speaker 2: particularly international travel, people just say, oh, look I'm not
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  Speaker 2: going to bother now. So what we're seeing is we
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  Speaker 2: actually see a lot of interesting kakado. But really not
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  Speaker 2: till the second half of this year, and much more
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  Speaker 2: so in twenty twenty three. So that confidence, that confidence
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  Speaker 2: has to be instilled, it has to be built up,
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  Speaker 2: and that's happening now. So look, you know, while it's
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  Speaker 2: fantastic to have all these domestic visitors to Kakado, now
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  Speaker 2: what we really need to see is a return to
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  Speaker 2: the balance between international travel and domestic travel, and that's
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  Speaker 2: beginning to happen. But I don't think we're going to
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  Speaker 2: see international travelers back in the work ways sort of
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  Speaker 2: pre pandemic until at least the second half of this year.
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  Speaker 2: So that's why I'm saying it's a great time for
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  Speaker 2: domestic travelers to actually see Kakado before we get all
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  Speaker 2: the Germans and Americans and Brits and all those sort
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  Speaker 2: of people back into Kakadu, and they will be coming back,
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  Speaker 2: I can promise you.
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  Speaker 1: Well. Peter Hawk, lovely to speak to you this morning.
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  Speaker 1: We really appreciate your time and glad to hear that
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  Speaker 1: it was nice and busy adding Kackadoo on the weekend.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, thank you.
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  Speaker 1: That is Peter Hook there from Tourism Kackadoo tourism spokesperson there.
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  Speaker 1: Peter Hook just having a bit of a chat to
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  Speaker 1: us about about how things went over the weekend. I
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  Speaker 1: know plenty of people out and about send us a message,
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  Speaker 1: let us know what you got up to over easter.
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  Speaker 1: Love to hear from you. Zero for double nine seven,
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  Speaker 1: double one three six zero and there are plenty of
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  Speaker 1: messages coming through this morning. I know that Emilio in
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  Speaker 1: Rapid Creek had messaged a bit earlier this morning. He said,
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  Speaker 1: hope you guys had a great weekend, a great easter.
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  Speaker 1: I can't believe. This morning drove past Macas drive through
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  Speaker 1: and the lane was closed as the ordering screens were smashed,
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  Speaker 1: plus one of the some of the windows. Amazing. How
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  Speaker 1: the crime spree is getting out of hand, says Emilio.
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  Speaker 1: So that is obviously one of the issues that we've seen.
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  Speaker 1: We also understand that there were a number of or
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  Speaker 1: there were a couple of businesses targeted over over the
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  Speaker 1: weekend and overnight. So we are going to be catching
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  Speaker 1: up with the Northern Territory in about twenty two minutes time.
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  Speaker 1: We'll get a bit of a rap and find out
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  Speaker 1: how things went over the weekend and some of the
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  Speaker 1: issues that they've been dealing with. So that's coming your
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  Speaker 1: way in just over twenty minutes.