Tourists will have to buy a day pass, two-week pass or an open pass and family pricing will be available.
These costs will be in addition to camping and walking fees, meaning a simple nature walk may start to add up depending on where you go.
According to Parks and Wildlife executive director Sally Egan, the fees would go towards “protection, maintenance and safety of our parks and the creation of new visitor experiences.”
“Nothing at the moment that we are hearing or seeing is suggesting that people will have a real problem and it would stop them coming to the Northern Territory,” she told ABC.
Response to the news has been mixed on social media platforms such as Twitter.
Some disapproved of the way fees could prevent visitors from affording the experience.
“OK for the rich but this will cut out low income and welfare recipients,” wrote Twitter user @pandemicmaiden.
“How to kill off tourism in one easy lesson…Pay to visit natural Aussie beauty spots SICK IT WHERE THE SUN DON’T SHINE,” user @westonnights added.
Others lamented the decision and suggested it could lead to monetising other natural features. “What next? We need to pay for the oxygen we inhale and get taxed for the carbon we exhale?” asked one user. “Next will we have to pay to swim on our beaches too?” another said.
Some said a fee was understandable but it should be minimal.
“I went to Uluru, where you pay to get in, and you feel the difference — the place is more clean, more safe, it feels better preserved,” Bolivian traveller Francisco Argandona told ABC.
“If it’s $5 it will be fine, if it was $10 or $20, I don’t know … maybe I wouldn’t go,” he said.
Some people pointed out that the system wasn’t anything new and would have a net positive impact on the environment.
“Fair enough. With growing visitor numbers, there’s a need to spend on maintenance, removal of rubbish carelessly left behind” wrote Twitter user @mwalinu.
