Visitor influx at Mon Repos rookery

Canadian tourists Nick and Amanda Scott are amazed by our little turtle treasures at Mon Repos Conservation Park.

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AN INFLUX of visitors during the Christmas week is giving the tourist season a much-needed injection at Mon Repos Conservation Park.

More than 300 visitors came to see the turtles nest on Tuesday night, the second night in a row the turtle rookery had reached the 300 mark.

Bundaberg North Burnett Tourism general manager James Corvan said the influx was welcome to the rookery, which had been struggling to pull big visitor numbers despite an expensive marketing campaign.

"We have three or four nights coming up with the same numbers, according to pre-bookings," he said.

"Once that has happened we should be back up there with last year."

Mr Corvan said the influx was also a boost because, at the same time last year, a huge number of people were asking for refunds due to the extreme flooding in the region.

Mon Repos has a booking limit of about 300 visitors per night.

The turtles themselves have also been performing for the crowds.

Twelve loggerhead turtles nested and a further five emerged but did not lay on Tuesday night.

Almost 220 turtles have nested this season and more than 7400 people have visited the rookery.

To book a turtle tour, visit www.bookbundabergregion.com.au.

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