Many thanks to members and partners who joined us at Cheeky Monkey BrewPub last Thursday for MRBTA’s Special General Meeting (SGM) and Tourism Update event. It was great to see you there.
Both Special Resolutions put to voters were passed with strong support – please see further details in the Explanatory Memorandum which accompanied the meeting.
Tourism Update Catch-Up Session
The tourism update provided a review of visitation trends, with last year proving to be a record year in terms of visitor numbers and spend as a result of returning interstate and international visitation, and an intrastate market that continued to holiday at home.
It is expected that visitor numbers over the coming year will soften, as the barriers of overseas competition and cost of living outweigh the drivers of a recovering interstate international markets and low unemployment.
It is anticipated that businesses in this region will be unevenly affected by the change in visitation outlook. While those businesses that work primarily with interstate and international markets (traditionally 20% of the region’s total market) will continue to perform reasonably well, those that rely more heavily on the WA market (80% of the region’s market) are likely to see declines on last year. We already seeing evidence of this decline, with many businesses reporting a drop off in the second week of the school holidays, and another significant drop at the end of school holidays.
It was acknowledged that the while we, as an industry, will need to continue to adapt to evolving economic conditions, we must also be take a longer term view of how we build a robust, sustainable and competitive tourism destination.
To support this, MRBTA has moved from a ‘destination marketing’ approach to a more holistic ‘destination management’ approach, with place and people at its centre.
MRBTA’s work will be informed by the unique story of our region – we see an opportunity to articulate what is of permanent value to the region, looking much more broadly and deeply than any contemporary consumer-facing brand story. This will be brought to life through both our Tourism Division and our Capes Foundation Division.
If you missed the event you can join the team for an online catch-up session next Tuesday 6 June at 1.30pm. Members and partners can register here.