Mandurah and Peel Tourism Organisation (MAPTO) will relocate to the heart of the city’s tourism hub in mid-November.
MAPTO chief executive officer Karen Priest, said the move to the Mandurah Visitor Centre would have many benefits for the organisation, its staff, and tourism outcomes.
“Being located in the visitor centre on Mandurah Terrace means we will be surrounded by some of the city’s biggest tourism, hospitality and accommodation providers,” Ms Priest said.
The new location will provide a one stop shop for tourism in Mandurah.
- Mandurah mayor Rhys Williams
“It will allow us to develop stronger collaboration and will make communication so much smoother, avoiding duplication of efforts to attract and inform visitors.
“Being co-located will provide MAPTO and visitor centre staff the opportunity to leverage our brand marketing activities even more and generate more offers to entice larger numbers of visitors to experience Mandurah and surrounds.”
The move has been planned in conjunction with the City of Mandurah and follows a recent council Notice of Motion to devote the expertise and resources of MAPTO to focus on growing the area’s tourism sector.
Mayor Rhys Williams said the City of Mandurah was really excited to welcome the MAPTO team to their new home.
“The new location will provide a one stop shop for tourism in Mandurah,” Mr Williams said.
“Recent tourism figures show we are moving in the right direction and our efforts so far are seeing amazing results, but we still have a long way to go.
“I’m looking forward to working closely with MAPTO to make Mandurah a leading destination for tourism in WA.”
Ms Priest said MAPTO was looking forward to building on some positive tourism results for Mandurah in recent times.
“We have had some fantastic recognition recently; Mandurah was named WA’s Top Tourism Town for 2017 and the latest figures from Tourism Research Australia show the number of day trips to Mandurah jumped by half a million last financial year to 2.8 million, while the number of nights international visitors stayed in the region increased by 85,000 to 578,000,” Ms Priest said.
“We are looking forward to building on this success in partnership with the City of Mandurah, including our relocation to the visitor centre.
“A strong tourism economy benefits the whole region through more jobs, better infrastructure and a more vibrant place to live and work.”