Barkly Region Prepares for 10,000 Visitors for 2028 Solar Eclipse

The Barkly region of the Northern Territory is preparing to cater for about 10,000 visitors expected to view a solar eclipse in two years.

The path of the total solar eclipse will cross Australia on July 22, 2028, with Tennant Creek and the Devils Marbles considered among the best places to view the astronomical event.

Northern Territory Department of Tourism deputy chief executive Valerie Smith said her department had put out expressions of interest to see what spaces and facilities could be used to accommodate the expected surge of eclipse chasers.

"We're aiming to match up interest with landholders, because potentially there could be tens of thousands of people coming," she said.

"We've had a number of tour operators already starting to sell product for it.

"Two years sounds like a long time, but when you're aiming to get people in from overseas, it comes around very quickly."

Barkly Regional Council Mayor Sid Vashist said the eclipse was the biggest calendar event Tennant Creek would ever have, but the town needed to be prepared with appropriate camping infrastructure.

"We're working through the site selections and the opportunities along the Stuart Highway," he said.

"I'm encouraging the government and the department to declare it a major event because that will seriously unlock a lot more resources."

Mr Vashist said there had been enquiries from Michelin-star chefs wanting to work in the Barkly and people willing to charter flights into Tennant Creek.

He said there had also been interest from Aboriginal tourism operators who were excited to open up land and provide additional cultural experiences for the event.

Devils Marbles booked out

Jo Oldham is the co-manager of the Devils Marbles Hotel, which is about an hour south of Tennant Creek on the Stuart Highway, directly under the eclipse.

She said the hotel, which could accommodate about 60 people, would be fully booked out during the eclipse and she expected caravans and campers to swamp the reserve near the roadhouse.

"We took over management in October 2024 and like two hours into it, we got a phone call going, 'I want to book for this date,'" she said.

"It's been pretty steady since then ... because it was so far out, we actually blocked everything out, because there's so many factors that you just can't look at four years in advance."

Ms Oldham said the hotel would need to bring in portaloos, more fuel and food, and management was considering the need for security and safety with so many extra visitors.

Why is the eclipse such a big deal?

Melbourne Planetarium senior curator of astronomy Tanya Hill said eclipses happened about every 18 months around the world, but they were not always in locations that were easy to view.

"It might be in the middle of the ocean, so the fact this goes right across Australia, we're going to have lots of interest in our part of the world for 2028," she said.

"Eclipse chasers travel the world to be able to see totality and to stand under the shadow of the moon."

Dr Hill said totality was when the moon completely obscured the sun, creating a shadowed pathway of about 200 kilometres wide.

"Kate Russo, who is an eclipse chaser up in Queensland, she talks about it being like the world holds its breath," Dr Hill said.

"You need to be in that path so that you're totally in the shadow, because even if you're just 99 per cent eclipsed, you're not going to have any of that feeling, that effect."