General News
16 November, 2026
Iconic landmark tops searches
THE announcement of the opening of the new Keerray Woorrong Visitor Centre on the Great Ocean Road caused the 12 Apostles to rise to the tops of people’s Google searches Australia-wide.
According to Google Trends data, there was a rapid increase in people across Australia searching for information about the 12 Apostles between October 4 and 11, when the opening date of the new visitor centre was revealed.
Seasonal trends for searches about the 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, Gibson Steps and Port Campbell, which are other local stops along the Great Ocean Road, typically peak towards the end of December and early January, which is reflected in the data.
While searches for the other landmarks and locations in the area remained relatively steady through the rest of the year, there was another spike in searches for the 12 Apostles in early March, which was when the government announced there would be a fee introduced to see the natural landmark.
The highest number of searches for the 12 Apostles peaked in October after the announcement of the opening, encouraging curious minds to dig deep for more information about the new centre, which until this point had been shrouded in a lot of mystery.
With a new booking system for parking in place, visiting the 12 Apostles will remain free until April, when a fee of an unknown amount will be introduced.
While locals have been told they will not have to pay the fee, how a local is defined is still yet to be determined, which is also predicted to be announced in April.
This content is part of a paid partnership with Google to promote Google Trends.
