Information on the number of tourists visiting the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has been compiled from logbook data that tourism operators are required to provide when submitting their Environmental Management Charge (EMC) returns. 

Information Collected

For each tourism vessel operating in the Marine Park, information is provided on:

• The number of visitors carried by the operator each day; and,
• The locations visited.

The following categories of passengers are separately recorded:

• Full EMC Passengers who undertake a trip of 3 hours or more
• Part–day EMC passengers who undertake a trip of less than 3 hours
• Passengers who are exempt from the 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

Standard Reports

A set of standard reports which provide broad summaries of tourism use are available for viewing below:

GBRMP Reef Wide Visitor Days

• Visitor Days to the GBRMP from July 1993-current (by month)

GBRMP Section Visitor Days

• Visitor Days to the GBRMP Far Northern Section 1993-current (by Month)
• Visitor Days to the GBRMP Cairns Section 1993-current (by month)
• Visitor Days to the GBRMP Central Section 1993-current (by month)
• Visitor Days to the GBRMP Mackay/Capricorn Section 1993-current (by month)

GBRMP Plan of Management Visitor Days

• Visitor Days to the GBRMP Cairns Planning Area 1993-current (by year)
• Visitor Days to the GBRMP Whitsunday Planning Area 1993-current (by year)

Specific Enquiries

The GBRMPA is currently in the process of implementing new reporting procedures for GBR visitor numbers.  In the interim, any enquiries which deal with visitor numbers in the GBR should be directed to:

gbr.visitation@gbrmpa.gov.au

All enquiries will receive a reply within 5 working days.

Notes on the Data

The data presented are preliminary pending validation.  It is expected that a variation of approximately 1% may exist in the figures.  A number of points should be considered when viewing or using this data, including:

• The data represents visitors to the GBR who went to the reef on commercial tourist operations
• The data represents the number of visitor days to the Marine Park.  For example, a passenger on a two-day, one night charter is counted as two visitor days.  A Part-day EMC passenger is counted as one visitor day
• The data does not include transfer passengers
• The recording of Part-day EMC passengers began in the fourth quarter of 2001.  These figures were previously included with the Full EMC passengers. 
• The data for 1993 represents six months visitation as data collection commenced in July 1993.