{"id":528862,"date":"2026-03-09T13:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/528862\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T13:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:12:14","slug":"tourists-will-soon-be-slugged-a-fee-to-visit-iconic-australian-landmark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/528862\/","title":{"rendered":"Tourists will soon be slugged a fee to visit iconic Australian landmark"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Victorian government is about to impose a “tourist tax” on the iconic landmark, which attracts about two million visitors a year, in a bid to preserve it.<\/p>\n

Just seven of the 12 original limestone landmarks remain standing.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"VisitorsTourists will soon have to pay a fee to visit the iconic Twelve Apostles on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road. (Nicole Cleary)<\/p>\n

Australian and international visitors will \ufeffbe charged to enter the new $126 million \ufeffTwelve Apostles Visitor Experience Centre, which is due to open by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

“It’s only fair that visitors to the region pay a small fee to visit this world-class destination so that we can maintain it for future generations,” Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos said.<\/p>\n

“We’re investing in the future of the Great Ocean Road region and making sure every single cent spent in the region stays there.”<\/p>\n

There will also be a new \ufeffvisitor booking system to manage numbers and parking during peak periods.<\/p>\n

The price of entry hasn’t been confirmed yet, and will be decided in consultation with local councils, businesses, and traditional owners\ufeff.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

But Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism chairman Andrew Jeffers acknowledged “no one likes being charged for something that was free in the past”.<\/p>\n

“This is a fee for the visitor centre that’s being proposed,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It doesn’t limit their access to other parts of the Great Ocean Road. There’s no fee being proposed for that.”\ufeff<\/p>\n

Revenue will be \ufeffcollected by the Great Ocean Road Parks and Coastal Authority.<\/p>\n

It will fund beach access and visitor facility upgrades in the area, as well as the maintenance of historic landmarks.<\/p>\n

Jeffers said some of the money will also go towards \ufeffupkeep on the recently constructed visitor centre.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"VisitorsThe popular tourist spot is slowly eroding and only seven of the original 12 stacks remain. (Nicole Cleary)<\/p>\n

A select number of Australians will be exempt from the fee.<\/p>\n

Local residents and members of the \ufeffEastern Maar community, who are the traditional owners in south-western Victoria, will not be charged.<\/p>\n

This isn’t the first natural landmark in Australia to impose a “tourist tax”.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Entry fees also apply at major tourist locations like \ufeffKosciuszko National Park in NSW and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory.<\/p>\n

Park fees at \ufeffKosciuszko National Park start from $29 per vehicle per day in the winter peak, and $17 per vehicle per day during the rest of the year.<\/p>\n

A three-day park pass for \ufeffUluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is $38.<\/p>\n

NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Victorian government is about to impose a “tourist tax” on the iconic landmark, which attracts about two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-528862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}