Alli Anderson in Punsand bay on Cape York
For most visitors to Cape York, the journey is the point. To understand what drives them, episteme surveyed 312 visitors along the Great Dreaming Track with TRC Tourism and Cape York Partnership in August and September 2022, both on the road and online. episteme designed and delivered a full visitor research solution for the project that included online and in-situ surveys to better understand what experiences people travelling to the Cape are expecting, what experiences they are actually having, and what they might be motivated to do in the future.
Getting to Pajinka, the northernmost tip of mainland Australia, motivates nearly three-quarters of visitors, and 88% hope to make it there. More than half are drawn by the challenge of the journey, and 42% want to experience the culture of the place. Visitors typically travel in convoys of four vehicles, plan more than six months ahead, and rely on Facebook groups, friends and family, and YouTube for information.
Tours, campsites and the overall experience rated between good and fantastic. Road conditions, signage and public toilets rated lowest. The most promising opportunities were short walks of under two hours, half-day Indigenous tours, and overnight camping with Indigenous communities, while visitors’ strong preference for flexibility suggests that full-itinerary booking is a harder sell.