Mandurah and Peel Tourism Organisation (MAPTO) has welcomed plans to develop a WA seafood and wine tourism trail in WA that is earmarked to start in Mandurah.
The WA Fishing Industry Council has confirmed it is looking at the concept as a way to use the state’s world-class seafood as a tourism drawcard.
MAPTO chief executive Karen Priest said they were keen to be involved in the planning.
“It’s fantastic to see Mandurah named as the likely starting point for a WA seafood and wine trail,” Ms Priest said.
“It makes perfect sense given our abundance of fresh, local seafood as well as a variety of restaurants and tourism experiences for people to enjoy.
“Waterfront and water view dining choices here are excellent, from the Mandurah tradition of fish and chips on the foreshore through to award-winning seafood restaurants.
“Blue manna crabs, the local speciality, are arguably the star of the seafood show and it’s great to think that so much more than just eating seafood can feature at the trail’s start in Mandurah.
“We could promote fishing, crabbing, events such as Mandurah Crab Fest and tourism experiences like the Crabbing and Eco Tour and the new Wild Seafood Experience from Mandurah Cruises.
“And of course there are a number of excellent, award-winning wineries in the Peel region that could form part of the trail.”
According to reports, the next phase of the plan is to develop a scoping paper and then test the trail which is likely to run from Mandurah to Albany.
Research conducted by Tourism WA shows four out of five visitors to WA are interested in culinary tourism with Tourism Australia citing one in every five tourism dollars spent is on food and wine.
“Tourism is vital to the economic success of the region and we will continue to pursue this and other concepts to help the sector flourish,” Ms Priest said.
