Mandurah and Peel Tourism Organisation (MAPTO) chief executive Karen Priest has just returned from a major industry roadshow in South East Asia and reported interest from travel agents exceeded all expectations.
“The roadshow was extremely successful for MAPTO,’’ she said.
“We showcased our region to more than 200 retail travel agents in Malaysia and Singapore.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW“The organisers, Experience Perth and Wel-Travel, ensured we had the chance to meet key product buyers and decision makers on an individual basis.
“The most common feedback was the agents were surprised by our proximity to Perth and how accessible the Peel Region is by road and rail.
“They all showed a keen interest in food and wine, dolphins, houseboats, wildlife and wilderness, group adventure activities and the steam train at Dwellingup.”
Ms Priest said the recent decision by MAPTO to broaden its target segments to include key international markets presented a great opportunity to grow visitation to the region from key South East Asian markets.
“Singapore was ranked second and Malaysia third in terms of delivery of visitor numbers to WA at March 2016, ’’ she said.
“MAPTO’s decision to target these close and significant South East Asian markets is supported by our initiatives here to assist local operators in understanding these target audiences and how to work with the travel trade distribution system through our ‘Let’s Talk Tourism’ workshops and ongoing education and collaboration with the industry.”