Staff and community members are role-playing tourists and guides in preparation for the start of a hectic tourism season.

Sixty Coral Expedition passengers will come ashore to Maningrida on Easter Monday signalling the start of the 2019 tourism year.

In mid-May, the season’s first Outback Spirit tour will arrive.

In a good year, a tour group arrives every second day between April and mid-September, with up to 100 people stepping off the barge landing.

While loads of fun for participants, the serious side of role-playing is to prepare guides for the myriad of questions asked by tourists during the visits.

Maningrida Arts and Culture Centre General Manager, Michelle Culpitt, said staff dress up as southern visitors for a touch of authenticity and a few laughs during the role play.

“It’s quite amazing what people ask locals; sometimes it can be quite confronting,” Michelle said.

“We do the role play so when the visitors come, the guides are confident and ready for just about any sort of question.

“There’s also been working bees and spring cleaning, and we’ve just finished the Djómi Museum renovations.”

The visitor’s itinerary includes visits to Babbarra Women’s Centre and its retail outlet, the nationally significant Maningrida Arts and Cultural Centre, the Djómi Museum, a guided fishing expedition and weaving workshops.