Further increase in visitors to Maria Island facilitated, despite concerns
A recent ABC News article notes the large increase in visitor numbers to Maria Island National Park in recent years and some of the issues that have arisen. It also notes that comments on the Draft Management Plan (MP) wanted visitor numbers to be limited.
The PWS article “Managing Visitor Experiences and Impacts” for Maria Island notes that “The introduction of a larger, more frequent and regular ferry service in 2017 has accelerated that growth…” It is also noted that “Just 8.4% of interstate and overseas visitors that visited the East Coast during 2018-19 visited Maria Island. This highlights the untapped potential for ongoing increases in visitation to Maria, even without further growth in visitation to the East Coast.”
So it seems that despite concerns about too many visitors on the island, the objective is to tap into this potential to further increase visitor numbers to Maria Island. So, statements of concern to manage and limit visitor numbers to sustainable levels do not seem to align with proposed actions.
Section 8.3.1 of the draft MP on ‘Managing Visitor Numbers’ notes that “The ferry is the most significant ‘control’ for visitation on the island, determined by both the size of the vessel and the frequency of departures. It therefore has an important role to play in managing demand and a sustainable carrying capacity for the island.”
The following two Management Actions were listed in the draft MP:
- Ensure the number of overnight visitors does not exceed the capacity of campgrounds and associated infrastructure;
- Ensure ferry service contracts, including the size of vessels delivering the service, preserve a sustainable visitor capacity on the island, while maintaining a viable commercial enterprise informed by management actions under KDO 8.1;
But, despite this, what are the actual actions? An even larger ferry is to be introduced to bring even more visitors to the island!
The state government is proudly supporting the introduction of a new, larger ferry later in 2026 (see here) which pre-empts the majority public comment on the draft MP; “They wanted visitor numbers to be limited and a stronger ranger presence to provide visitor support, advice and services.” (quoted in the aforementioned ABC news article).
So, instead of addressing and finding management solutions to present concerns arising from the increase in visitors to Maria Island, it seems that increasing visitor numbers even more, and upgrading infrastructure to support this increase, is the government’s priority.