Phillip Island Penguin Parade Visitation Surges

Visitors to Phillip Island’s world-famous Penguin Parade surged by 30 per cent last financial year back to levels prior to COVID-19 restrictions. Phillip Island Nature Parks today released official figures which show 709,527 people visited the Penguin Parade in 2023-24, up from 545,148 in 2022-23. International tourists jumped from 147,058 in 2022-23 to 251,208, representing significant growth of 71%. The highest visitation came from China, Taiwan, US, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India and the UK. The strong domestic growth that supported the Penguin Parade immediately post COVID-19 continued with a further 9.7% increase over the previous year. Total visitors to the Nature Parks, which also includes the Koala Conservation Reserve and Churchill Island, climbed to 1,033,666 in 2023-24, up from 881,954 the previous year. Catherine Basterfield, Chief Executive Officer at Phillip Island Nature Parks, said visitation was stronger than forecast, with revenue exceeding the record prior to COVID-19 restrictions. “Demand for nature-based tourism both domestically and internationally is growing strongly,’’ Ms Basterfield said. “We are delighted with the re-bound in visitation numbers. Particularly given that the growth has been attained even though we have reduced our capacity at the Penguin Parade. Having lowered the number of visitors over COVID-19 we discovered that it was a far better experience for our visitors. The significant growth that we have achieved this year shows that our visitors are embracing the change and are very much aligned to our nature-first philosophy.” The Nature Parks is set to offer an enhanced experience at the Penguin Parade with greater shared access, improved visitor flow, even better viewing of the little penguins with the construction of a new boardwalk and upgrades to premium viewing platforms. The works are due to be completed in November ensuring the Penguin Parade remains one of the most popular nature-based tourism attraction in Australia.