Tourists bypass 'bogan' Busselton

Tourists favour upmarket Dunsborough over its “bogan” Busselton counterpart, the region’s first and biggest visitor survey has revealed.

The results of the 489-person Beachcomber Project visitor survey, released at a function at The Goose Café on Tuesday, showed many visitors viewed Busselton as a “passing through point” on the way to Margaret River, while Dunsborough was perceived as a vibrant, upmarket and desirable location.

“Respondents appear to favour Dunsborough as a more attractive place to visit,” the survey revealed.

Jack in the Box strategist Tony Robinson, whose company was commissioned by Pro Busselton to conduct the survey, told attendees at Tuesday’s event that visitors used comments such as “bogan” and “like a church” to describe Busselton during the survey.

He said visitors demanded a higher level of interaction and service from Busselton tourism operators during their stay and wanted to receive tour guide-style information from their accommodation providers.

Many also made negative comments about the condition of the beachfront and public toilets in Busselton and asked for extended trading hours.

“I don’t think the perception of Busselton at this particular time is where we think it’s at,” he said.

“People actually said they felt more comfortable in Dunsborough than they did in Busselton.”

Despite the negative comments, as many of the survey’s respondents had visited Busselton as visited Dunsborough when asked about their most recent holiday destination.

Margaret River topped the holiday popularity chart, followed by Melbourne, Bali and Albany.

The jetty was described as Busselton’s biggest tourist draw card, with many expressing disappointment and anger at being unable to walk the structure when it was closed for reconstruction during last winter’s survey.

Mr Robinson said the jetty was “overwhelmingly popular” and was the sole purpose for many visits to Busselton.

The typical visitor to Busselton, drawn from 332 paper questionnaires and 157 face-to-face interviews, was a married West Australian female, aged 35 to 44, travelling with their partner or spouse, with a university degree and a $50,000 to $70,000 household income.

Most were from Perth, with a high amount of visitors coming from upmarket suburbs.

Mr Robinson urged tourism operators to target women as the “decision maker” during their marketing.