Pre-Covid-19, the Margaret River Region welcomed over 1.5 million overnight visitors who spent more than $830 million. Intrastate visitors historically account for the largest proportion of visitation (79%), followed by interstate (12%) and international (9%) markets.
Top 3 Interstate Markets
Top 3 International Markets
(Figures are pre-Covid-19)
MRBTA has a team of over 20 expert staff who work year-round to attract and service these visitors. MRBTA’s broad scope of digital and in-person consumer touchpoints create over 2 million visitor interactions per year and allow MRBTA to reach visitors at every stage of the travel journey – from dreaming and planning to booking, in-destination and sharing.
MRBTA’s dedicated in-house destination marketing team works to deliver increased preference for, and travel to, the Margaret River region, in a way that optimises partnerships and is responsive to the dynamic travel environment.
The destination marketing team leverages MRBTA’s wealth of knowledge as destination experts to provide target audiences with compelling and timely reasons to visit the Margaret River Region. Information and campaign activity is shaped and targeted to different audiences as necessary, primarily through digital communications channels – for example, website, social media and eDM.
Margaret River Region Destination Brand
MRBTA developed and launched the Margaret River Region’s first unified regional tourism brand in 2015, and has since continued to invest in the way that the story of the region is told to the world. As custodians of the regional brand, MRBTA aims to further the region’s positioning as a premium destination and to deepen visitors’ connection to this part of the world.
The regional brand leverages the strong existing market equity around the “Margaret River” name while also providing opportunities for the region’s City and town localities to feel proud about what makes them special and what they have to offer.
The regional brand is brought to life in many different ways – from the visual identity and logo, to storytelling and editorial at the destination website, to the way that new and existing tourism experiences in the region are developed.
margaretriver.com Destination Website
At the heart of MRBTA’s Strategic Marketing Plan is the destination website, margaretriver.com – the region’s number 1 destination authority which attracts over 1.3 million sessions per year.
The website provides a growing platform to showcase the region and member businesses, with regular updates to both content and functionality to convert people dreaming about the Margaret River region into planning. The website’s consistently high search engine rankings are thanks to a strong content marketing strategy with the destination social media platforms assisting to drive traffic.
Ongoing Marketing Activities
Current Campaigns
MRBTA manages three accredited, award winning Visitor Centres in Busselton, Dunsborough & Margaret River.
While MRBTA remains committed to bricks and mortar visitor centres in high foot traffic areas, its evolving and innovative approach to visitor servicing utilises a range of digital technology and methods to reach visitors at the right time, with the right message.
MRBTA’s Reservations team services visitors via email, live web chat, social media direct messages and telephone. Using analytics MRBTA understands when visitors are most likely to be online, and rosters staff accordingly.
MRBTA’s knowledgeable and passionate consultants use their expertise to:
Cruise Ship Arrivals
MRBTA also manages the shoreside experience for cruise ship arrivals to Busselton, ensuring that a tailored welcome is offered to passengers of every single cruise ship arriving at Busselton. This includes managing a team of over 70 volunteers greeting passengers; organising live entertainment; promoting ‘Cruise-In’ markets offering locally produced goods and a free-of-charge City Hopper Bus.
Furthermore, to build capacity and ensure that shore experiences meet the changing expectations of cruise passengers, MRBTA holds regular ‘Cruise Ready’ workshops for local tourism operators.
