For our team at Visit Mandurah, 2022 has been an incredible year culminating in our award-winning Mandurah Visitor Centre hosting the start of the Giants of Mandurah adventure trail.
The Australia-first exhibition by internationally renowned artist Thomas Dambo has proved to be incredibly popular with visitors and locals alike, with overwhelmingly positive feedback since its launch in November.
Along with the community and visitors, we are devastated that the Giant located in Coodanup (Vivi Cirkelstone), burnt down this week.
With so many people involved in its creation, and tens of thousands falling in love with it, it truly is heartbreaking.
That said, we strongly encourage everyone to continue to seek adventure and discover all other Giants of Mandurah with loved ones over the holiday period.
As well as the Giants, there are so many reasons to visit our stunning coastal city. Here at Visit Mandurah, we are promoting the region's broader tourism offerings, as well as supporting local tourism operators to capitalise on opportunities presented by the Giants, lights trail and other summer events.
For example, our summer marketing campaign, which we launched on November 1, focuses on the BIG reasons to visit WA's Top Tourism Town this year and provides inspiration on all there is to see and do in Mandurah.
On top of this, I recently attended the ATEC (Australian Tourism Export Council) Conference. Taking place at the end of November in Queensland, the conference was a great opportunity for us to reconnect with Australia's inbound tourism industry and meet with international tourism buyers.
When I reflect more broadly on 2022 in its entirety I take a great deal of satisfaction in the successes achieved across Mandurah's tourism industry, as well as here at Visit Mandurah.
Considering that over the year Mandurah's tourism operators have continued to navigate the pandemic's ongoing challenges with drive and innovation, it is incredibly satisfying to see the town centre so alive with activity.
At the start of the year, borders were closed and in a short space of time operators again adjusted their offerings to suit changing markets as we began to welcome back international and interstate visitors.
It is wonderful to see this hard work paying off, with so many visitors choosing to join us in Mandurah over the summer.
It is particularly delightful to see families reunited for Christmas.
It is lovely to walk along Mandurah's foreshore and see so many family and friend groups enjoying time together and experiencing Mandurah's beauty.
While we are saddened to end the year with the loss of Vivi Cirkelstone, we are looking forward to another great year for tourism in Mandurah.
During 2022, our coastal city was named Top Tourism Town - taking the top spot due to our world-class waterways, outstanding tourism offerings and year-round events calendar.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the local tourism industry this year, it has been a joy to see it start rebound.
Please continue to enjoy Mandurah's offerings in 2023 and encourage others to visit the place we are lucky enough to call home.
- Anita Kane is the manager of Visit Mandurah
