Outback towns welcome grey nomads after slow start to tourism season

The reprieve winter brings from the blistering summer heat in the outback is usually paired with an influx of caravans bouncing along the red dirt roads.

This year's tourism season, however, got off to a slow start, after roads were closed and events cancelled because of heavy rain earlier in the year.

With the region open for business, tourists are now making their way through North West Queensland, kickstarting a seemingly quieter season.

Grey nomads are encouraging other travellers to hit the road to see the beauty of the outback.

Tony and Sue Ahern recently arrived in Mount Isa, more than 1,800 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, having driven from Laurieton, near Port Macquarie in New South Wales.

"I think a lot of the towns that we've been in, if it wasn't for us nomads, the streets would be deserted," Mr Ahern said.

"You look down the street and all you see is over-60s walking up and down, and everyone's got grey hair."

Escaping windy Warrnambool in Victoria to the sunny North West, Kevin and Julie Terrington said despite worries about the cost of fuel, prices seemed to fall as they travelled further north.

The grey nomads said they would rather hit the road for an adventure, supporting small country towns along the way, than sit around at home all winter.

"Come support the little towns, support the caravan parks that you can, and spend a little bit of money in each town,"

Ms Terrington said.

"Because if you don't, then they're not going to be there. They can't survive on nothing."

Lynn and Peter Lenthall from Adelaide are first timers along the Barkly Highway, but it is not their first rodeo in the North West.

They say they have noticed fewer tourists than usual on this trip.

"I think that's because of fuel availability and the cost," he said.

"When we left Adelaide, we had several friends that put the kibosh on their trips because they were too scared that they weren't going to get fuel [but] we've found it a lot easier than we expected."

Mount Isa caravan park owner Kylie Rixon said visitor numbers were growing after a very flat start.

She said May was 48 per cent down compared to the same time period in 2024.

But things were improving, with June only 20 per cent lower.

Hitting outback hip pockets

While other events were cancelled, Julia Creek, more than 250km east of Mount Isa, hosted its annual Dirt n Dust Festival for the 30th year, which usually triples the town's population of 550.

Festival president Kalan Lococo said the "massive" event was usually an essential boost to the outback town's economy.

"[The tourists] are all in town or they're staying at the caravan park, they're buying groceries, going to the pub, buying coffee, buying bread, getting fuel," he said.

"May [and] June is when it really starts to heat up in terms of numbers and you can easily see the decline around."

Further south, the town of Boulia is struggling to reel the tourists in.

Boulia shire tourism officer Karen Savage said it was probably the worst she had seen.

"And talking to other people, it's been the worst for a lot of years. Very, very quiet,"

she said.

Ms Savage said the slew of cancelled events across the Central West would have also stopped travellers making their way through to Boulia.

She said at the start of the season, the town saw only 40 to 70 tourists within a month, and while numbers were picking up, statistics were still down by about 45 per cent.

"I'm not sure we can make that up throughout the season," Ms Savage said.

After record-breaking rainfall in Mount Isa in February, the "oasis of the outback" has blossomed into a green paradise in the midst of the desert.

But Mount Isa Mayor Peta MacRae said with the beauty came isolation.

"We've all seen that at the start of the year when our roads are cut, people just can't get through to shop in our small businesses and take part in our tourism offering," Cr MacRae said.

The government-funded Big Sky Drive tourism campaign launched late last month, with the goal of making some outback towns more than just a brief stop.

"We're hoping that people just don't see these towns as places that you pass through on their way to somewhere else.

"We want to become part of the destination."

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