Why new tourism opportunities in WA are making some locals wary

One of WA’s most idyllic islands is set for its first land-based accommodation as communities across the State face the reality of a changing industry. The Abrolhos Islands — roughly 60km offshore from Geraldton in the Mid West — became a national park in 2017 and had $10 million put towards developing sustainable tourism on the archipelago. The State Government in February announced it had finalised four lease agreements for the Abrolhos Islands with the key change of allowing short-term hosted accommodation on the islands. According to the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, multiple groups are eyeing up added tourism opportunities at the site, with a spokeswoman confirming a joint departmental expression of interest process to “ascertain commercial interest in nature-based marine and land-based tourism development” on the Islands. “Boat-based tourism accommodation is currently available,” she said. “There are several proponents who have expressed an interest in establishing a range of tourism facilities at the Houtman Abrolhos, including both marine and land-based accommodation facilities.” The potential project comes amid questions over whether new developments are beyond the reach of everyday domestic travellers. In late May, a five-star luxury resort proposed for Gnarabup — about 8km south west of Margaret River— was green-lit by the Environmental Protection Agency. The $138 million proposal would see 121 rooms built along with 51 beach houses and 25 apartments. There would also be a general store and cafe built. While the resort has moved to the next stage of the approval process, it has deep opposition from some locals. More than 2500 submissions were received by the Environmental Protection Authority. Margaret River Coastal Residents Association president Adrian Wilson said he worried about how the resort would interact with the region’s booming population. “We’ve got to have a very close look at it because if you look at the rate of expansion of our cities at the moment, the number of sprawling suburbs, the reason why people have moved to Margaret River is because of the natural landscape,” he said. “We’ve got to be very careful we don’t destroy the reason why people are moving there and I think if it just gets too intensely busy, which in the summer already it is, there’s traffic jams in summer down there, “We have to have a really close look at what we’re trying to achieve.” Direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Busselton have added to the tourist boom in the South West, while further projects around the State are also catering towards the burgeoning wellness market. A proposal for a sauna to float on the Pemberton Pool — more than 300km south of Perth — last month had been open for public consultation and now lays with the Manjimup shire council for approval. The project has been proposed by Nigel Reeves, the developer of Australia’s first woodfired floating sauna situated in north-east Tasmania. Curtin University professor of digital marketing Mingming Cheng said wellness getaways had become more popular since 2020. “After COVID people restarted thinking of their value of their life, they wanted something more that can support their physical, mental, emotional or sometimes spiritual well being,” he said. “You can see a lot of people who work in the cities, they’ll say ‘I want to go to a farm, I’ll go to very remote places’ because they look at it from their spiritual wellbeings, to connect to nature.” Professor Cheng said more luxury offers were coming to the table, but what was considered luxury was changing. “What we are seeing for the luxury market is not what we are seeing with the traditional luxury market, where there’s aim for five star hotels and all those things,” he said. “What they’re looking for is a different kind of, what we call a meaningful, unique, exclusive experiences. “We see a lot of different offerings for the luxury market so some offerings for example they stay at an organic farm for a few days and then they’ll get all the material from the local farm and then also someone will tell them the best wines in the regions and how to match the food. “It’s a very unique experience, it’s not cheap.” Tourism Council WA chief executive officer Evan Hall said while he didn’t believe tourism in the State was becoming more exclusive, some clever marketing was helping boost its success. “Wellness is a classic example, this is not a particularly wealthy market, per se, not everyone obviously wants to spend their money on that sort of thing but it is in fact really smart marketing,” he said. “Most of the decisions that are made about travel are generally made by mum. Particularly with the family, it’s typically mum who’s making the decision that the family needs a holiday, or that the couple needs to reconnect. “They are choosing destinations to travel to that have a good wellness reputation because it’s the sort of thing that they’d like to do while they travel.”