AUSTRALIA’S SOUTH WEST DATE OF PUBLICATION: MARCH 2010 Tourism Development Priorities | 2010 -2015 © Tourism Western Australia. March 2010. ISSN 1834-2418 2 Mill Street Tel: 08 9262 1700 PERTH WA 6000 Fax: 08 9262 1702 GPO Box X2261 tourism.wa.gov.au/tdp PERTH WA 6847 visit westernaustralia.com Disclaimer: This document has been prepared by Tourism Western Australia predominantly from information and data gathered in the course of its activities. No person or organisation should act on the basis of any matter contained in this document without considering and, if necessary, taking appropriate professional advice. Neither Tourism Western Australia, nor any of its employees, undertakes responsibility to any person or organisation in respect of this document. All material in this document is derived from sources believed to be current and accurate as at the date of publication and is provided in good faith. Tourism Western Australia makes no representation or warranty that any material in this document will be accurate, reliable or complete (nor does Tourism Western Australia accept any responsibility arising in any way for errors in, or omissions from that material, even if those errors or omissions are on account of Tourism Western Australia’s negligence). Your use of the information in this document is entirely at your own risk. 2 Australia’s South West Tourism Western Australia | Tourism Development Priorities TABLE OF CONTENTS Tourism in Western Australia 2 Government’s role in Destination Development 3 Tourism Development Priorities 4 Australia’s South West 5 Margaret River Wine Region 9 Great Southern Sub-Region 23 Geographe Sub-Region 36 Southern Forests Sub-Region 46 Blackwood River Valley Sub-Region 54 Appendix A – Consultation List 61 Appendix B – The Tourism Area Lifecycle 68 Appendix C – Key Points of Contact 71 TOURISM IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA Tourism is a major contributor to the Western Australian economy and is directly As illustrated below, the tourism industry is an important part of the overall health linked to the State’s long term prosperity. and well being of many different industries in Western Australia.1 Western Australia’s tourism industry encourages diversified regional economies Industry % Industry reliance on Tourism and offers long term development opportunities for regional areas which have traditionally relied on industries such as mining and agriculture. Tourism develops Accommodation, cafes and restaurants 52.4% strong and vibrant regional communities through employment and business Retail trade 8.0% opportunities for people living throughout the state. For indigenous communities, tourism can offer employment, business development and the maintenance Transport and storage 7.9% of culture. The tourism industry is one of few industries to offer economic opportunities that mutually support and rely on environmental conservation Cultural and recreational services 5.7% objectives. Education 5.7% The benefits of the tourism industry in Western Australia are real, providing over Communication services 3.5% 82,000 jobs and contributing in excess of over $7.3 billion (both directly and indirectly) to the Western Australian economy.1 Manufacturing 2.4% In order to continuosly improve visitor experiences and grow this significant industry in an environment of ever increasing competition, it is essential that Western Australia continues to invest in developing, refreshing and promoting destinations and experiences that stimulate visitation to and around the state. This destination development, coupled with a strong brand and effective marketing will assist in growing Western Australia’s tourism industry through an underpinning of its brand promise. 2 Australia’s South West Tourism Western Australia | Tourism Development Priorities GOVERNMENT’S ROLE IN DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT In order to engage in destination development and rejuvenation, the government’s In many areas of Western Australia tourism is seasonal, with visitation varying provision and facilitation of infrastructure and product which both service visitor significantly depending on the time of the year. Construction and operating costs needs and encourage private investment in tourism product is seen as essential. in remote areas such as the North West and Ningaloo are extremely high and land Without infrastructure such as airports, roads, power, water, sewerage, electricity costs in many destinations (particularly in coastal destinations) are impacting on and telecommunication, investors are generally unwilling to invest in tourism the business case for investments. These issues can have a huge impact on the product. profitability of tourism operators. In Western Australia, the capacity of the private sector to finance the development As a result of the fragmented, remote and seasonal nature of the tourism industry, of basic economic infrastructure such as roads and utilities is restricted by the it is understood that the government has a significant role to play in destination size and nature of the tourism industry. There are an estimated 4,000 tourism development. Specifically, it is understood that the public sector has a role in businesses in Western Australia, the majority of which are small to medium sized creating a favourable environment for tourism development through infrastructure enterprises.2 Competition between operators and the destinations in which they investment that supports development of product. A range of government are based is intense. agencies contribute to this process, including Tourism WA, Department of Planning, Department of Environment and Conservation, Department of Regional Development and Lands, Regional Development Commissions, Department of Training, Department of State Development and many more. Australia’s South West 3 Tourism Western Australia | Tourism Development Priorities TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES In recognising the role that many agencies have in destination development, a 3) Stakeholders with a detailed understanding of key destinations: 166 set of Tourism Development Priorities (TDP) have been developed to help identify semi-structured telephone interviews were completed with key tourism tourism product and infrastructure priorities in key destinations around the stakeholders who had a detailed perspective on specific destinations state. These documents both help guide government agencies in their planning within each of the five tourism regions (interviewees included visitor centre and dissemination of grants as well as assisting the private sector in identifying managers, local governments, Department of Environment and Conservation potential development and investment opportunities. and Department for Planning regional officers, local Chamber of Commerce and Industry representatives, local tourism association representatives and Five TDP documents have been produced in total, one for each of the five local tourism operators). tourism regions in Western Australia. While these TDP documents do not canvass all possible projects for the regions, projects and initiatives that have 4) Regular intrastate travellers: To help facilitate a demand side perspective significant stakeholder support or have been identified as being important in the on destinations key strengths and development priorities a series of five development of destinations have been prioritised. focus groups were conducted with experienced intrastate visitors to each of the five tourism regions. In preparing these TDP documents, Tourism WA has consulted with an extensive range of stakeholders. These stakeholders include: These consultations were undertaken by TNS, a respected research company. In addition to this direct consultation process, Tourism WA invited other interested 1) Stakeholders with a statewide perspective: 40 in-depth interviews were parties to provide input through both a: completed with key tourism industry stakeholders who were seen to have a “big picture” state-wide tourism perspective (interviewees included industry • public ‘Call for Submissions’ open between May 1 and July 17, 2009; and associations, wholesalers, inbound/outbound tour operators, airlines and • public ‘Call for Comment’ on the draft TDP documents, open between relevant government agencies). November 20 and December 18, 2009. 2) Stakeholders with a regional perspective: 24 in-depth interviews A full list of stakeholders who provided input into the development of the TDP were completed with key tourism industry stakeholders who had a documents can be found in Appendix A. detailed perspective on one or more of Western Australia’s five tourism regions (interviewees included Regional Tourism Organisations, Regional After receiving information about the stakeholder consultation from TNS and Development Commissions, and operators and other private and public collating input from the ‘Call for Submissions’ and the ‘Call for Comment’, the organisations with an interest in multiple destinations within a region). following TDP document has been produced for the tourism region known as Australia’s South West. Tourism WA will monitor the progress of the priorities listed in this report and may assist in facilitation. 4 Australia’s South West Tourism Western Australia | Tourism Development Priorities AUSTRALIA’S SOUTH WEST Australia’s South West covers the Australia’s South West south western corner of Western Australia, stretching from MANDURAH Bunbury to Bremer Bay. It is generally understood that the region is roughly broken into five key sub-regions;