Over recent months, MRBTA has been reviewing its visitor servicing offering in Dunsborough. This has involved analysing data from MRBTA’s in-person and online visitor servicing channels, as well as consultation with MRBTA members, the City of Busselton (CoB) the Executive Committees of Dunsborough Yallingup Chamber of Commerce (DYCCI) and the Busselton Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).
The ways in which visitors are accessing information has changed significantly over the past decade; the number of visitors utilising our website (margaretriver.com) and central reservations services (web chat/email/phone) has been growing considerably, while foot traffic at our visitor centres has been declining. In response to these trends MRBTA has increased its focus on digital, completing a redevelopment of margaretriver.com late last year and cross training visitor centre staff into central reservations.
Our visitor centres still provide an important opportunity for quality, in-depth interactions with visitors – particularly interstate and international visitors who have a much lower awareness levels than Perth visitors. The vast majority of our visitor centre foot traffic is concentrated at our Busselton and Margaret River centres, with the Dunsborough centre receiving a much lower level of visitation. As such, we have made the decision to consolidate our offering, and close Dunsborough Visitor Centre at the end of this financial year. This will enable us to further our investment in our digital channels, and further improve the experience at Busselton and Margaret River Visitor Centres. We will also be working with the CoB and DYCCI to consider innovative ways in which we can continue to deliver a level of visitor servicing in Dunsborough.
We’d welcome the opportunity to discuss with members further, and if there is interest, we can host Zoom sessions over the next week. To register your interest, please contact the Membership Team, via [email protected].