Wheatbelt tourism builds momentum

MARGARET River, Broome and Esperance may captivate national and global attention as tourist hotspots, but Western Australia’s Wheatbelt is developing its unique identity as a tourism destination.

Local governments in Pingelly and Merredin are renewing their tourism strategies to better promote the Wheatbelt’s appeal.

Former Nationals WA and opposition leader Mia Davies said the region deserved more attention and support to strengthen its tourism identity.

“We’ve got a great product, but we get lumped in with the Perth zone and as a consequence I don’t think enough attention is paid to what we’ve got on the doorstep of Perth as the gateway to the rest of the state,” Ms Davies, MLA for the Central Wheatbelt, told Business News.

“It does frustrate tourism, community tourism businesses and communities that put an enormous effort into putting forward great experiences.

“We’ve also got great natural assets [but] we don’t get the same support as some other regions in the state.”

Mia Davies says regional tourism needs more support. Photo: Angie Roe Photography

Tourism Minister Roger Cook said Tourism WA was dedicated to promoting the regions.

“Tourism WA is committed to promoting all parts of WA and works with each regional tourism organisation to make sure they are included and supported in the delivery of destination marketing campaigns,” he said.

“WA’s new global tourism brand, Walking On A Dream, will be adapted for future Tourism WA marketing activities, which will promote additional destinations and experiences from across WA, including from Australia’s Golden Outback and the Wheatbelt.”

Australia’s Golden Outback (AGO) – the Tourism WA subsidiary tasked with the Wheatbelt’s destination marketing initiatives – has partnered with local government authorities to strengthen the region’s tourism image.

It recently launched its ‘Wheatbelt Weekends’ campaign to promote self-drives through the region, including the Pioneers Pathway, the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail, Pathways to Wave Rock and the Wheatbelt Way.

Marcus Falconer leads Australia's Golden Outback. Photo: David Henry

AGO chief executive Marcus Falconer said it was both a challenge and an opportunity to highlight the region’s experiences and attractions.

“It’s really important to work collaboratively where we can because, particularly in the Wheatbelt, there is a huge amount of local government areas,” he said.

“It’d be really difficult for each LGA to do their own marketing because of resources and time, and you’d have some challenges with different messaging.

“Within those umbrella campaigns, such as the Wheatbelt Weekend, there are opportunities for destinations to highlight their own particular area or self-drive route.”

Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre’s its ‘Go Your Own WA’ report – released this month in collaboration with the Tourism Research Cluster – details the health of the tourism industry.

The pandemic significantly affected the economic contribution by the state’s five tourism sub-regions, according to the report.

WA lost about 45 per cent of tourism-related gross value added after contributing $6.7 billion to the economy in 2020-21, down from $12 billion in 2018-19.

The Wheatbelt was hit hardest of all the regions, the report found, contributing $168.2 million GVA in 2020-21, down from $281.5 million in 2018-19.

Across WA, 56,310 workers were employed in the tourism sector in 2020-21, a 16.8 per decline in the number of people employed in 2018-19.

Tourism in the Wheatbelt employed 3,991 people in 2020-21, down from 4,143 in 2018-19. Another hindrance to the region’s tourism potential is the lack of accommodation options.

Public Silo Trail on CBH Group’s grain silos across the Wheatbelt. Photo: Australia's Golden Outback

Ms Davies said more support was needed for the development of accommodation, both for workers and tourists in regional communities.

“Our shires have all stepped up and a lot of them have had to invest in accommodation at their caravan parks where they don’t have private operators, because they could see that there was a need for it,” she said.

“It’s not the responsibility of a local government to provide that, but in the absence of anyone else, they know it’s an important amenity that brings in business for the main street and for the community.”

Shire of Merredin president Mark McKenzie said the eastern Wheatbelt hub – located three hours north-east of Perth – was not immune to the impacts of worker shortages.

“Unfortunately, Merredin is not alone in experiencing the accommodation shortages for rooms when work crews and tradespeople book out our rooms and hotels and motels for weeks or months at a time,” he said.

“Our key events also present a challenge for accommodation at times when the town’s booked out. “Worker shortages also present challenges to all businesses with limited local workforce to draw on and with backpackers on working holiday visas slow to return post COVID.”

Morawa Windmill. Photo: Australia's Golden Outback

Shire of Pingelly chief executive Andrew Dover echoed Mr McKenzie’s concerns over accommodation options.

“There’s currently a bed and breakfast, caravan park and free RV park, however, accommodation shortages are a major challenge facing tourism in Pingelly,” Mr Dover told Business News.

Mr Dover said there was an opportunity to develop farm stay and other unique accommodation experiences around Pingelly, located less than two hours from Perth.

To that effect, Perth couple Karen and Peter Eldridge are refurbishing the previously vacant Pingelly Roadhouse and Motel into a suite of modern motel rooms. And the founder of popular Facebook page Lost Perth, Warren Duffy, recently purchased the 116-year-old Pingelly Exchange Tavern to give the historic pub a new lease on life.

Elsewhere, Dome Group managing director Nigel Oakey has invested in luxury accommodation through the development of the Premier Mill Hotel in Katanning and Farmers’ Home Hotel in Northam.

Wave Rock in Hyden. Photo: Australia's Golden Outback

Region rallies

Agritourism has been identified as a key development opportunity for the Wheatbelt, with the AGO developing an agritourism strategy to be delivered by the end of the 2022-23 financial year.

“We are looking at how can we use those strategic strengths to facilitate experience development in that area,” Mr Falconer said.

“An agritourism experience could be unique accommodation on a farm, it could be farmgate experiences or it could be farm tours. “There’s an opportunity to work with the agriculture sector to develop new tourism experiences, which attracts new types of visitors.”

Some towns, too, are getting a spruce-up, with the Shire of Merredin redeveloping its CBD to encourage an additional 11,000 road users to stop in town each year, who the shire expects will spend $430,000 with local businesses.

Mr McKenzie said capitalising on existing assets was the key to strengthening the Wheatbelt’s tourism identity.

Similarly, Pingelly has invested more than $1 million into the redevelopment of its Memorial Park and plans to refurbish the Pingelly Town Hall and Museum to attract more visitors.

“In addition to encouraging visitors to spend more time in Pingelly, the shire is developing a number of events throughout the year designed to put [the town] on the tourist map,” Mr Dover said.

Mr Dover added he hoped Pingelly’s tourism future would include more Indigenous tourism businesses. “The Tourism Council estimates that 80 per cent of visitors to Australia want to have an Indigenous cultural experience, but only approximately 30 per cent achieve this aim,” Mr Dover said.

Across the region, established events such as the Kulin Bush Races and the Boddington Lions Rodeo have been attracting visitors to the region for decades.

The Njaki Njaki Aboriginal Cultural Tours based in Merredin. Photo: Australia's Golden Outback

In addition, Wave Rock, the newly recognised Dryandra Woodland National Park, sprawling wildflowers and the Njaki Njaki Aboriginal Cultural Tours are all popular drawcards.

Advertised as WA’s largest outdoor art gallery, the Public Silo Trail has made a landmark destination out of CBH Group’s grain silos throughout the Wheatbelt.

In May, Northam will host the Australian National Ballooning Championships, followed by the Women’s World Hot Air Ballooning Championships in September.

The two events are expected to attract nearly 30,000 visitors to the Wheatbelt town and inject more than $3 million into the local economy.