Cafe, restaurants and pubs in Mandurah have toasted to a successful year after welcoming half a million more day trippers in the Peel region than the previous year.
More than 2.8 million people chose the Peel region as a day trip destination in 2017/18, according data from the Tourism Research Australia’s National Visitor Survey for the 12 months to June.
The Redmanna Waterfront Restaurant’s Jason Hutchen said he has definitely noticed an increase in day trippers lunching at the restaurant.
“A lot of people catch the train down from Perth or Mandurah, or come up from Bunbury, particularly on Sundays. We seem to be a popular meeting spot for friends living north and south who looking for a half way point to meet,” Mr Hutchen said.
We’ve got to stay hungry and keep working together on a shared vision for tourism, if we’re going to see our city become a leading destination for tourism in WA that we know it can be.
- Mandurah mayor Rhys Williams
The Peninsula’s Kevin Smith said they have definitely noticed a pick up in the lunch time crowd, particularly on weekends and public holidays.
“As well as the increase in day trippers, I think it can be attributed to a mixture of things including some new marketing ventures as well as relationships we have with other tourism businesses such as Mandurah Cruises,” Mr Smith said.
While Mandurah mayor Rhys Williams welcomed the news he said the city had to “stay hungry and keep working together on a shared vision for tourism”.
“We know that the repositioning of Mandurah is in its infant stages and we’ve got to stay hungry… if we’re going to see our city become a leading destination for tourism in WA that we know it can be,” he said.
“I’m really thrilled with this data, and it’s great to see that the collective effort of our operators and tourism stakeholders is seeing results.
“We’re heading in the right direction and there is a real buzz around the community about our future.”
The number of nights interstate and intrastate visitors stayed in the Peel region also increased in 2017/18, up 20 percent to 2.4 million.
Visitors use a variety of services and shop at a range of retail outlets, meaning the flow on benefits are wide reaching.
- Mandurah and Peel Tourism Organisation chief executive officer Karen Priest
Mandurah and Peel Tourism Organisation (MAPTO) chief executive officer Karen Priest an increase in visitor numbers was great for the whole region, not just tourism and hospitality businesses.
“Visitors use a variety of services and shop at a range of retail outlets, meaning the flow on benefits are wide reaching,” she said.
“This is a fantastic result which represents a 23 per cent increase.
“While our marketing campaigns and [public relations] activity have had an important role to play, I believe the jump in numbers is also attributable to the ever increasing range and quality of tourism offerings in the region, as well as new infrastructure such as the re-developed Mandurah Forum”.
Ms Priest has recently visited Indonesia and China as part of MAPTO’s promotion of the region in key international markets. 2017/18 international visitor statistics are due for release before the end of the year.
