Boost for bush tourism in Oz

Visitors to Australia's outback are on the rise as the latest results from Tourism Research Australia show that 17,000 more tourists travelled to the country's Northern Territory in the 12 months leading up to the end of September.

This increase marks a rise of 5.7 per cent, reports ABC News, while tourist figures nationally fell by 4.5 per cent.

Although the sparsely populated territory covers an area the size of Spain, France and Italy combined and offers an abundance of natural environments, the majority of visitors to Australia still flock to the country's west coast.

Tourism Minister Paul Henderson told ABC that figures were now approaching those recorded before September 11th.

"We're seeing increased airline capacity coming to Darwin, with Tiger Airways in particular and also Jetstar that are now flying daily between Darwin and Singapore, so the airlines are coming back, the tourists are coming back", he explained.

The Northern Territory is famous for the iconic Ayers Rock, situated in Uluru World Heritage National Park, and its diverse landscapes of plants and animals.

Furthermore, it is the perfect place to discover Australia's indigenous people, the Aborigines, who hold a spiritual connection with the land dating back tens of thousands of years.

Visitors can tour villages, walk the desert in search of bush tucker or visit ancient rock art galleries.