Meetings & Events

Celebrate Darwin Festival, 7–24 August 2025!

Darwin Festival is Australia’s hottest winter arts festival, set in the heart of the Northern Territory on Larrakia land. This unmissable celebration brings together the spirit of the Top End with a vibrant program of arts, culture, food, stories, dancing, and laughter to fill your heart, mind, and soul.

Over 18 unforgettable days, experience theatre, music, comedy, circus, cabaret, dance, visual arts, unique food and beverage experiences, and awe-inspiring storytelling. Loved by locals and adored by visitors, this annual festival is the centrepiece of Darwin’s dry season, making August the best time of year to visit.

Join us at the Darwin Festival Industry Launch

News & Opportunities

• New NT Category – Best Territory Tourism Marketing Activity. Find out more about this category on the Brolga Awards website.
• Simplified and refined questions in a guided format  for business categories
• Reduced word count: 4,000 to 7,500 words for national categories 1-25.
• The Excellence in Accessible Tourism (category 26) has a maximum of 3,000 words, previously 4,000.

2025 Northern Territory Cruise Forum: Connecting Land and Sea

Tourism NT, in collaboration with Tourism Top End, proudly hosted the 2025 Northern Territory Cruise Forum — a key event focused on strengthening the connection between land and sea-based tourism.

This year’s forum brought together industry leaders to explore new ways to engage with cruise lines and enhance the experience for visiting passengers. The day featured insightful presentations from representatives of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Joel Katz (pictured above), Carnival Australia, Coral Expeditions, and various ground handlers who specialise in crafting memorable onshore experiences.

With over 100 attendees, the forum offered a valuable opportunity to share knowledge and prepare for the 2025/26 cruise season and beyond. Attendees gained practical insights into developing and delivering engaging shore excursions for cruise visitors arriving in Darwin and across the Top End.

1. Be a Northern Territory accommodation or experience provider
2. Read the case study: See how a Northern Territory operator has successfully leveraged Travel Auctions.
3. Create or update your ATDW listing: If you need help to set up your listing, contact tourism.development@nt.gov.au

Northern Territory Export Awards

The Chief Ministers Northern Territory Export Awards proudly recognise the outstanding achievements and success stories of territory exporters.

Returning in 2025 for the 32nd year, the awards celebrate and showcase the territory businesses leading the way in exporting high-quality products and services around the world.

Winners of each category will progress as finalists to the Australian Export Awards to compete against their peers and receive national recognition.

The Chief Minister’s Northern Territory Export Awards are coordinated by the Chamber of Commerce NT, with support from Austrade and the Department of Trade, Business and Asian Relations.

Dry Season Top End Passport COMING SOON!

Keep an eye out for our Marketing Update next week, as the dry season Top End Passport will be opening for bookings and we have some exciting updates.

Top End Visitor Information Centre

• Mon 19 May 2025 08:00 - Coral Geographer 120 pax (Domestic) 
• Fri 23 May 2025 13:10 - Le Jacques Cartier 184 pax (International)
• Tue 27 May 2025 08:00 - Coral Adventurer 120 pax (Domestic) 
• Thu 29 May 2025 17:10 - Seabourne Pursuit 264 pax (Domestic) 

• Thu 05 Jun 2025 08:00 - Coral Discoverer 72 pax (Domestic)
• Mon 09 Jun 2025 08:00 - Coral Geographer 120 pax (Domestic)
• Thu 12 Jun 2025 06:00 - Silver Cloud 296 pax (International)
• Thu 12 Jun 2025 19:10 - Le Jacques Cartier 184 pax (Domestic) 
• Tue 17 Jun 2025 08:00 - Coral Adventurer 120 pax (Domestic)
• Tue 17 Jun 2025 17:10  - Seabourne Pursuit 264 pax (Domestic)
• Sat 21 Jun 2025 20:00 - Silver Cloud 296 pax - (International)
• Wed 25 Jun 2025 06:00 - Mitsui Ocean Fuji 450 pax (International)
• Thu 26 Jun 2025 08:00 - Coral Discoverer 72 pax (Domestic)
• Fri 27 Jun 2025 10:00 - Heritage Adventurer 46 pax (International)
• Fri 27 Jun 2025 12:00 - Regatta 684 pax (International) 

Time: 8:45 – 9:00 AM      Location: In-person at the VIC or via Zoom

Member Noticeboard 

The new limits on engaging employees & contractors
The employment landscape has shifted, and businesses must adapt to new laws and restrictions around engaging employees and contractors.

Register for Wednesday, 21 May for the upcoming webinar, The new limits on engaging employees & contractors, where we’ll explore how these recent changes affect your business.

In this webinar, we'll cover:

• The recent changes to the laws including the new ‘employee’ and new ‘casual’ definitions
• The new casual conversion process
• Key risks and pitfalls in engaging contractors under the new framework
• The Fair Work Commission's new jurisdiction regarding unfair contract complaints for independent contractors
• Best practices for reviewing existing contracts and arrangements
• Practical tips to future-proof your workforce strategies

Date: Wednesday, 21 May 2025

Time: 12pm - 1pm AEST

Karrimanjbekkan An-me Kakadu - Taste of Kakadu 2025