Capes back on tourist map

Tourism in the Capes region appears to be on track to pre-global financial crisis levels, with recent figures showing domestic visitor numbers in the region are continuing to increase.

Tourism WA’s quarterly visitor snapshot for the March quarter showed intrastate visitors were up 12.6 per cent and interstate visitors up 21.2 per cent from the same period last year.

Geographe Bay Tourism Association chief executive Simon Taylor said it was great to see West Australians choosing to holiday in their own backyard.

“As the Perth market travels to the region regularly it’s important we invest in new tourism experiences and events as well as supporting the old favourites as well,” he said.

However, the figures revealed international visitor numbers have declined by 6.3 per cent.

Mr Taylor said while international visitation has been on the decline, visitors are staying longer with visitor nights for the international market up by 16.9 per cent, well above the average annual growth rate.

“These figures are encouraging and bode well for future growth,” he said.

Mr Taylor was not discouraged by other regions in the State such as the North West, which was showing a 19.9 per cent increase in international visitor numbers.

“We are very much a leisure destination, the huge economic growth in the North West is driving strong demand for business travel, accounting for roughly 63 per cent of their visitation,” he said.

Margies Big Day Out owner Richard Werren said tour bookings in summer were picking up compared to previous years, with almost all his bookings coming from the domestic market.

“We’ve always attracted a Perth crew, but we’ve seen a lot more interstate tourists, especially from Melbourne,” he said.

Mr Werren said bookings in winter were looking good with Saturday tours booked out for the next few months.

“We always tend to panic during winter, especially with worries about Bali and cheap flights, but at the moment, it’s looking really busy,” he said.