Business
30 April, 2025
Tourism industry impacted by government's inaccurate mapping
Travellers are cancelling their plans when they see incorrect road closures, tourism operators say.
Tourism operators in the Gulf of Carpentaria believe inaccurate online road reporting is driving travellers away from the region.
They are calling for assurances from the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) that road condition data collected by frontline workers will be promptly updated on the relevant government websites.
As previously reported, Gulf tourism businesses are bracing for a third tough season in a row after travellers and group tour operators cancelled thousands of bookings following a late wet season.
Burke and Wills Roadhouse owner Ben Stanger said he had seen a direct correlation between the road information being reported on government websites and tourist enquiries. He said as recently as this month there had been inaccurate information online reporting that the Burke Development Road, connecting Cloncurry to Normanton, was closed.
“Last year was terrible for tourism,” he explained.
“We had tourists ringing up in August asking if the roads are shut and we hadn’t had a road shut since February, so the information on the website was completely wrong.
“This month, we had maps online sending tourists down a dirt road because it was wrongly saying the Cloncurry to Normanton Road was closed.
“The people from the department doing the leg work are doing a good job but the information is not getting up on the website.
“It makes it tough on businesses when tourists are looking stuff up on the internet and it is not accurate, and they are deciding to turn their cars and caravans in another direction.
“You would be better off just not having the website at all.”
Carpentaria Shire mayor Jack Bawden said popular travel sites, such as the RACQ, relied on data collected for the government department websites.
He said if TMR’s website was inaccurate then it had a flow on effect across the rest of the available information online.
“Quite often you’ll find there are road closed signs on the maps online, but we have really been using that road for weeks,” he said.
“With modern technology you don’t need to talk to someone to find out if a road is closed you just take a screenshot on your phone and send it to your mate – so wrong information can spread like wildfire. Travellers have their ways of communicating with each other and so we need the information that is getting to them to be as accurate as possible.”
North West Weekly contacted TMR for comment but it did not respond in time for publication.