The spectacular skywalk at the Kalbarri National Park in WA's Mid West has helped to attract 40 per cent more visitors to the park in the past year, despite COVID travel restrictions and Tropical Cyclone Seroja.
Key points:
- About 275,000 people have visited the Kalbarri National Park in the past 12 months
- The number of visitors has leapt by 40 per cent since the park's skywalk opened a year ago
- The skywalk has been described as "better than the Grand Canyon" by people who have visited both tourist attractions
Senior Park Ranger Mike Paxman said the opening of the $24 million skywalk a year ago was a major contributor to the huge increase in visitor numbers.
"We had a couple of down months in April and May but we've effectively had over a quarter of a million visitors at the site, so now it's over northward of 250,000, since it was opened, probably closer to 275,000," he said.
"By comparison to previous years, that's an increase of 40 per cent in numbers.
"It's not only due to the skywalk of course, there's a lot of strings to the tourism bow in Kalbarri — the gorge and all the attractions of the river and the township itself."
Numbers better than expected
Mr Paxman said the increase in tourist numbers extended "way beyond" projections.
"There were so many unknowns with this year, with the fact that people can't travel internationally," he said.
"Domestically, people from Perth in particular … probably opened their eyes to how fantastic their backyard is, so that's been part of the reason.
Mr Paxman said the attraction was wheelchair accessible and user friendly, and all the feedback from visitors had been positive.
"I think they are sort of surprised and some have been to the Grand Canyon, and they believe that this skywalk compares very favourably, in fact exceeds the sort of visitor experience provided at the canyon," he said.
"It's the fact that it blends in so beautifully with the environment thanks to the the architecture and then the landscape architecture."
Mr Paxman said the stonework combined with the effect of artworks and signage, and the narrative of the Nanda people, which has been integrated with the design, had all contributed to the site's popularity.
"I think it ticks all the boxes for people," he said.