Tourism data sheets recently released by Tourism Western Australia for the Peel region show tourism continues to increase as a significant driver of economic development.
Tourism Western Australia has released a series of fact sheets updating data specific to the state’s ten commission areas.
For the Peel region, the statistical area includes Waroona, Pinjarra, Byford, Mundijong, Murray, Serpentine-Jarrahdale and the wider Mandurah district.
The Tourism Research Australia (TRA) combined national and international visitor surveys showed the Peel region attracted 576,300 visitors year end December 2015. Of these, 28,800 (5%) were international and a further 50,000 (9%) were from interstate.
Peel Development Commission (PDC) chairman Paul Fitzpatrick said the research was timely for future economic forecasting.
“Tourism is one of five key pillars in our recently released Regional Economic Blueprint,” he said.
“Statistical data is integral to the forward economic planning for our region and we will use the newly released Peel specific data sets in conjunction with population statistics, data from local councils, etcetera, when preparing business cases and the like,” said Mr Fitzpatrick.
Mandurah and Peel Tourism Organisation (MAPTO) chairman Leighton Yates said the revised data presentation was very comprehensive and spanned visitor profiling covering source market, age, travel party type, purpose of visit and more.
“As the body responsible for tourism marketing for the Peel region, these latest visitor statistics provide extremely valuable data to MAPTO,” he said.
“For example, 50 per cent of the international visitors in the Peel survey area stated they came primarily to visit friends and relatives, and 45 per cent of those were travelling alone.
“These TRA data sets and fact sheets are highly specific in terms of demographics and contain quantitative information which is invaluable for MAPTO in formulating future targeted strategies and marketing campaigns,” Mr Yates said.
For more information on Tourism WA’s data sheets, go to tourism.wa.gov.au
