As part of a region with summer tourism trade, our Western Australian local government and regional development client wanted to develop their region by attracting a wider range of travellers who would stay longer.
Situated south-west of Perth, the Plantagenet region of Western Australia benefited from travellers following the coastal roads and visiting the Albany region. The region had its own distinct attractions, including the spectacular Castle Rock Granite Skywalk in the Porongurup National Park, wineries and historical sites.
As a region near a more famous region, the Plantagenet area was not seen as a destination, with few travellers discovering the region. To support strategy development and understand how to attract more visitors who would stay longer, we were commissioned to undertake research that included evaluating potential new developments to support state funding and attract private investment.
The project involved three phases. The first phase involved extensive research on tourism and visitor data for the region to understand who was travelling to the surrounding regions, trends, and what was driving these trends and differences.
Leveraging the information from the first phase, we surveyed n= 460 visitors to the Plantagenet and Albany region to understand reasons for visiting, attractions visited, spending behaviour and interest in current and potential attractions.
In the final phase, we leveraged the data from the first two phases to build econometric models to estimate the current and future of tourism and create forecast scenarios based on market simulations for intra-region (from surrounding regions), intra-state, interstate and overseas visitors. The research provided financial estimates and suggested strategies for attracting each targeted market. Based on our research and analysis, our clients were able to secure additional funding, with the implementation of their strategy leading to visitor growth in their region.