This graph shows the total tourist visits to the Central Management Area including full day visits, part day visits and visits by those who are exempt from paying the Environment Management Charge (EMC). Full day visits are the best gauge of the general trend of tourism in the Marine Park. Monthly data are also available in .csv format below.

Important information you need to understand this data

1. The data represents visitors to the Great Barrier Reef who used commercial tourist operations.
2. Data is updated on receipt of quarterly returns from tourism operators one month after the quarter has ended.
3. The count of visitor days to the Marine Park is calculated where passengers undertake a visit as follows:

• Full day visits:
  • A day trip of more than three hours is recorded as a full day visit
  • Overnight trips are recorded as multiple full days, for example, a stay of two-days and one night is counted as two full day visits.
• Part day visits:
  • Where the trip is less than three hours
  • The first day of a trip entering the Marine Park after 5 pm
  • The last day of a trip leaving the Marine Park before 6 am
• Exempt visits are passengers who are not required to pay the Environmental Management Charge (EMC), for example:
  • Young children who are free-of-charge
  • Trade familiarisation passengers who are free-of-charge
  • Passengers for whom another operator has already paid EMC on that day
  • The fourth and subsequent days for passengers on extended charters.

4. The data for 1993 represents six months visitation as data collection commenced in July 1993.
5. Recording part day visits began in the fourth quarter of 2001.  These figures were previously included with the full day visits.
6. The recording of coral viewing activities (for example, glass bottom boat tours) commenced in July 2007 and is recorded as part day visits.
7. The recording of scenic flights commenced in October 2009 and is recorded as part day visits.
8. The data does not include transfer passengers (for example ferry passengers).
9. The data presented are preliminary until they are validated. A variation of up to approximately 1 per cent may exist in the figures.

Download in .CSV format

Year	Full Day	Part Day	Exempt	Total
Jul 1993	38966	0	961	39927
Aug 1993	36937	0	938	37875
Sep 1993	41080	0	1131	42211
Oct 1993	41860	0	1570	43430
Nov 1993	39363	0	1280	40643
Dec 1993	40823	0	1250	42073
Jan 1994	45966	0	1483	47449
Feb 1994	28155	0	918	29073
Mar 1994	29857	0	920	30777
Apr 1994	36898	0	1459	38357
May 1994	30959	0	1241	32200
Jun 1994	36166	0	1691	37857
Jul 1994	45447	0	1804	47251
Aug 1994	44719	0	1451	46170
Sep 1994	57805	0	1537	59342
Oct 1994	56014	0	1538	57552
Nov 1994	52777	0	1645	54422
Dec 1994	47180	0	1397	48577
Jan 1995	52589	0	1660	54249
Feb 1995	28552	0	734	29286
Mar 1995	36763	0	1090	37853
Apr 1995	42039	0	1160	43199
May 1995	33768	0	900	34668
Jun 1995	33866	0	981	34847
Jul 1995	48463	0	1655	50118
Aug 1995	39170	0	969	40139
Sep 1995	54126	0	1408	55534
Oct 1995	68697	0	1797	70494
Nov 1995	64065	0	1738	65803
Dec 1995	63900	0	1768	65668
Jan 1996	61432	0	1841	63273
Feb 1996	40980	0	1137	42117
Mar 1996	46023	0	1506	47529
Apr 1996	52072	0	1547	53619
May 1996	41228	0	2311	43539
Jun 1996	42887	0	1958	44845
Jul 1996	47015	0	1374	48389
Aug 1996	46088	0	1227	47315
Sep 1996	51212	0	1364	52576
Oct 1996	52857	0	1160	54017
Nov 1996	48422	0	1119	49541
Dec 1996	49673	0	929	50602
Jan 1997	49372	0	1070	50442
Feb 1997	31372	0	632	32004
Mar 1997	25713	0	1248	26961
Apr 1997	37722	0	870	38592
May 1997	34018	0	984	35002
Jun 1997	30526	0	961	31487
Jul 1997	49052	0	1168	50220
Aug 1997	49506	0	1278	50784
Sep 1997	52610	0	1405	54015
Oct 1997	60710	0	1494	62204
Nov 1997	49484	0	1295	50779
Dec 1997	49677	0	1229	50906
Jan 1998	41445	0	1029	42474
Feb 1998	29598	0	929	30527
Mar 1998	34920	0	1371	36291
Apr 1998	48565	0	3274	51839
May 1998	40471	0	3287	43758
Jun 1998	41089	0	2702	43791
Jul 1998	55498	0	2943	58441
Aug 1998	50905	0	2791	53696
Sep 1998	54035	0	3309	57344
Oct 1998	52473	0	7606	60079
Nov 1998	48397	0	6586	54983
Dec 1998	51315	0	5834	57149
Jan 1999	45848	0	8573	54421
Feb 1999	33122	0	4085	37207
Mar 1999	42555	0	6642	49197
Apr 1999	46878	0	9421	56299
May 1999	40148	0	7241	47389
Jun 1999	43241	0	7203	50444
Jul 1999	53770	0	11283	65053
Aug 1999	52604	0	10777	63381
Sep 1999	55962	0	15710	71672
Oct 1999	62245	0	15798	78043
Nov 1999	54999	0	11540	66539
Dec 1999	56260	0	9039	65299
Jan 2000	59041	0	12212	71253
Feb 2000	36192	0	3185	39377
Mar 2000	49365	0	5663	55028
Apr 2000	48839	0	9695	58534
May 2000	41364	0	7243	48607
Jun 2000	40768	0	6705	47473
Jul 2000	58164	0	9025	67189
Aug 2000	57380	0	9605	66985
Sep 2000	59098	0	12767	71865
Oct 2000	60721	0	11294	72015
Nov 2000	56427	0	9540	65967
Dec 2000	58431	0	7633	66064
Jan 2001	63527	3	9311	72841
Feb 2001	41955	0	3983	45938
Mar 2001	57078	0	6351	63429
Apr 2001	56295	179	8174	64648
May 2001	53075	171	6760	60006
Jun 2001	49752	97	6503	56352
Jul 2001	71746	724	11742	84212
Aug 2001	62382	347	10189	72918
Sep 2001	60091	284	12595	72970
Oct 2001	57699	5583	15430	78712
Nov 2001	57444	7063	10442	74949
Dec 2001	57299	6026	9120	72445
Jan 2002	56561	10383	9306	76250
Feb 2002	41275	7818	4275	53368
Mar 2002	48059	8557	6467	63083
Apr 2002	51484	9414	8875	69773
May 2002	44330	8015	6925	59270
Jun 2002	41120	6740	6778	54638
Jul 2002	61913	7834	10380	80127
Aug 2002	51640	7277	9119	68036
Sep 2002	55447	9321	13208	77976
Oct 2002	62974	10319	19949	93242
Nov 2002	53731	10154	9910	73795
Dec 2002	55820	10213	10519	76552
Jan 2003	57168	10714	10113	77995
Feb 2003	39671	7255	3729	50655
Mar 2003	46567	8228	6004	60799
Apr 2003	57670	9624	11074	78368
May 2003	44698	7630	7746	60074
Jun 2003	48214	7060	6894	62168
Jul 2003	60861	8147	11887	80895
Aug 2003	58208	8638	10964	77810
Sep 2003	57434	9180	15607	82221
Oct 2003	59032	10747	15393	85172
Nov 2003	55861	11428	10627	77916
Dec 2003	59417	11732	9150	80299
Jan 2004	61273	10800	11140	83213
Feb 2004	47565	7899	4884	60348
Mar 2004	48539	7713	6834	63086
Apr 2004	55523	9144	10248	74915
May 2004	44085	7885	7831	59801
Jun 2004	44277	7223	6501	58001
Jul 2004	65055	9477	12692	87224
Aug 2004	57358	8852	11770	77980
Sep 2004	59363	9428	16097	84888
Oct 2004	56859	9792	14255	80906
Nov 2004	56783	9354	8889	75026
Dec 2004	57685	9736	7118	74539
Jan 2005	55189	12954	8550	76693
Feb 2005	44504	12577	4387	61468
Mar 2005	55480	18096	8021	81597
Apr 2005	50464	8891	8451	67806
May 2005	47398	8281	6360	62039
Jun 2005	45662	8420	7485	61567
Jul 2005	56759	9762	12282	78803
Aug 2005	52427	9682	12154	74263
Sep 2005	58979	11613	14967	85559
Oct 2005	58749	11842	14458	85049
Nov 2005	52299	11970	9523	73792
Dec 2005	54375	12785	7949	75109
Jan 2006	58049	12713	9613	80375
Feb 2006	41794	9221	3114	54129
Mar 2006	37238	9313	5618	52169
Apr 2006	53214	10522	9020	72756
May 2006	42617	8757	7861	59235
Jun 2006	39225	7269	7220	53714
Jul 2006	59237	10451	12477	82165
Aug 2006	54705	9531	13002	77238
Sep 2006	55018	10145	14442	79605
Oct 2006	60011	12341	14908	87260
Nov 2006	57201	12497	8942	78640
Dec 2006	56406	12911	7244	76561
Jan 2007	67558	11513	9548	88619
Feb 2007	36418	6298	3484	46200
Mar 2007	53866	8745	6375	68986
Apr 2007	59455	10203	9342	79000
May 2007	45807	8352	7179	61338
Jun 2007	43169	7628	6855	57652
Jul 2007	58546	12920	13296	84762
Aug 2007	51668	11420	9633	72721
Sep 2007	54060	12514	11779	78353
Oct 2007	59807	12139	15702	87648
Nov 2007	62164	13402	10717	86283
Dec 2007	55575	13257	10596	79428
Jan 2008	51509	12130	11462	75101
Feb 2008	34547	7662	4003	46212
Mar 2008	48662	10124	7601	66387
Apr 2008	52686	11972	10338	74996
May 2008	46062	9188	8255	63505
Jun 2008	38364	8389	6708	53461
Jul 2008	58428	10108	14000	82536
Aug 2008	50428	8599	13897	72924
Sep 2008	57094	10867	15073	83034
Oct 2008	60419	12365	17443	90227
Nov 2008	57637	11814	10731	80182
Dec 2008	64614	13412	10182	88208
Jan 2009	52501	10673	10559	73733
Feb 2009	35338	6783	4305	46426
Mar 2009	43632	9060	6543	59235
Apr 2009	57775	12207	12166	82148
May 2009	40285	9616	8184	58085
Jun 2009	40591	8954	8604	58149
Jul 2009	56453	12529	14804	83786
Aug 2009	54676	10713	15050	80439
Sep 2009	56102	12561	16572	85235
Oct 2009	59713	14108	14957	88778
Nov 2009	53695	14558	10906	79159
Dec 2009	65332	14645	9189	89166
Jan 2010	52904	13813	10438	77155
Feb 2010	40762	11058	5103	56923
Mar 2010	38694	9876	7086	55656
Apr 2010	51418	11796	11101	74315
May 2010	40320	10154	7707	58181
Jun 2010	37551	8201	8219	53971
Jul 2010	52502	10486	14014	77002
Aug 2010	49269	9845	12477	71591
Sep 2010	50152	10563	15821	76536
Oct 2010	56569	10295	15810	82674
Nov 2010	51468	9707	10336	71511
Dec 2010	46588	9639	9686	65913
Jan 2011	40860	10542	8453	59855
Feb 2011	29037	6651	3250	38938
Mar 2011	46279	7450	5876	59605
Apr 2011	39876	8983	9253	58112
May 2011	39129	7561	6649	53339
Jun 2011	31572	6140	7466	45178

N/A* = part day GBR visitor days not recorded separately prior mid 2001
# = Visitor numbers (EMC) recording only commenced in 1 July 1993
Figures are based on EMC returns