Hotels in Mandurah are bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic better than expected as restrictions continue to ease across WA.
A number of local accommodation providers have reported being completed occupied for some nights since travel bans were lifted.
The positive news comes after Tourism Accommodation Australia predicted hotel occupancy rates to drop by at least half this year as the crippled industry heals.
The tourism body expects occupancies to sit at 40 per cent, down from pre-pandemic levels of about 78 per cent, and only forecasts these rates to return to about 55 per cent by 2021.
However, Visit Mandurah general manager Anita Kane said Mandurah's tourism industry was showing positive signs of starting to recover from the coronavirus crisis.
"Accommodation providers were always going to be hard hit given the regional travel ban in WA," she said.
"Since that ban was lifted we've seen some early signs of encouragement with some hotels reporting 100 per cent occupancy on certain nights of the long weekend just gone.
"A leading online travel agency has reported searches for family accommodation in Mandurah are up 382 per cent compared to last month and up 146 per cent for all travel searches."
The Atrium's Jacob Goodlich said it had been "virtually impossible" not to be affected by COVID-19, but the hotel had "fared better" than many others during the pandemic.
"The hospitality and tourism industries have taken a beating due to COVID-19," he said.
"However, we are proud to say that we were one of the first local businesses to react and take preventative measures during the start of the outbreak.
"We were fortunate to never have to close - our loyal repeat customers, and the help from the JobKeeper program, allowed us to keep the doors open and our employees on the books... we managed to stay afloat."
Read more: Hotel occupancies halved under coronavirus
Mr Goodlich said they were expecting occupancy to return to normal relatively soon.
"The [next] relaxing of restrictions makes a major difference in allowing us to house a large amount of people in the common areas of the hotel - namely the restaurant and pool," he said.
"I think it will soon start to look a lot like it did before the pandemic - we've already had a dramatic surge in bookings recently."
Seashells Mandurah general manager Ben Colbert said COVID-19 had been both a challenge and a chance for their resort to grow.
"It's possibly been the most challenging time we have faced and it's certainly been tough on our staff and owners, but the JobKeeper payments have allowed us to keep our team employed and the property afloat," he said.
"The pandemic has also given us the opportunity for us to team up with our management across our five WA properties to find opportunities and effective ways to keep the properties open.
"This has really brought us closer together."
Mr Colbert said the Mandurah team spent most of the last few months responding to cancelled bookings, changing dates and providing refunds.
"We had a 70 per cent decrease in occupancy in April alone," he said.
However, he said things were starting to look a little more positive with WA restrictions continually easing further.
"There was obviously a big response for the long weekend but the growth has been slower beyond this," he said.
Ms Kane said domestic travellers would be "more important than ever" as Mandurah's tourism industry looks to recover from the virus, and interstate and international border closures remain in place.
"Domestic travellers have always been Visit Mandurah's core target market... In fact, pre-COVID-19, around 85 per cent of our visitors were from within WA, " she said.
"This is a great sign as so many people already know and love us and we believe will continue to head to Mandurah for their holidays.
"People can also expect to see some very competitive rates in the market which should further encourage visitors wanting a weekend away close to home."
Both Mr Goodlich and Mr Colbert agreed.
"As with most tourism businesses and hoteliers in Mandurah, we receive the majority of our business from Perth-based visitors anyway," Mr Goodlich said.
"Mandurah has always been Perth's easiest getaway and it's important that Mandurah businesses and tourism organisations reach out to Perth residents and encourage them to stop by on their way down south."
Mr Colbert added that domestic tourism campaigns would give Mandurah accommodation providers the helping hand they needed to ramp up business again.
"Australia's entire tourism industry will be heavily relying on domestic travel for some time," he said.
"We hope there will be a focus on Mandurah and Peel in Tourism Western Australia's intrastate marketing campaigns.
"We'd love to see people from Perth and around WA rediscovering Mandurah - we have so much to offer as a destination."
