Part 1 - Shire of Ashburton

Shire of Ashburton Tourism Strategy
January 2011
The same research estimated the breakdown of “purpose of visit” amongst total visitors to the Shire, and of the
estimated 69,300 overnight visitors to Ashburton, some 28,413 (41%) arrived for holidays or leisure reasons, some
26,334 visited for business reasons, 8,316 for “other”, and 6,237 (9%) to spend time with friends and relatives
living in the area.
Visitor Source of Origin & Length of Stay
As detailed above, three quarters of overnighting visitors to the Shire are Domestic and the remaining one quarter
from Overseas. Of these Domestic travellers the large majority are from intrastate (within WA 79%) and the
remainder from interstate (21%). Interestingly some 44% are sourced from Perth. Applying these breakdown %
against estimated visitor levels the following table is derived and ranks market sources in terms of visitor numbers
attracted.
Rank Source of origin Estimated visitor #s
1 Perth 22,748
2 Other WA 18,095
3 International 17,600
4 Interstate 10,857
Total 69,300
In terms of “duration of visit”, the research indicates that some 57% of international visitors to the Shire only
spend only 1‐2 nights in the region, 21% spend 3‐4 nights, and 22% spend 5 or more nights. This would indicate
that over half of international visitors are simply “travelling through” the Shire of Ashburton en route to the
destinations.
There appears an excellent opportunity to convert these “travelling through” types to more extended stay visitors
(3+ nights) through a more coordinated and effective approach to marketing and promotion of the region’s iconic
attractions. For Domestic travellers some 37% spend 1‐2 nights in the Shire, 24% spend 3‐4 nights, and a large 39%
spend 5 or more nights. The high 5+ night traveller group reflects the Pilbara coast’s strong attraction to WA
retirees during the colder winter months in the south of the State.
Visitor Expenditure Estimates
Visitor expenditure research estimated Domestic only visitors to the Shire spent on average $86 per night (2005‐
2007 data) however did not release international expenditure estimates due to data reliability issues. If we apply
this Domestic average spend per night estimate against the estimated total visitor nights to the Shire of 504,000
(106,000 international and 398,000 domestic source: Tourism Research Australia years 2005‐2007) then a total
visitor expenditure of around $43m per annum is derived.
If we assume the more recent research detailed is correct and apply this against current ANW region average
visitor expenditure estimates (Domestic $134 per night and International $57 per night) then current visitor
expenditure within the Shire is around $40.7m. If the above research is assumed to be a true reflection of the
current tourism activity within the Shire then we can assume that tourism within the Shire of Ashburton generates
around $40m‐$45m in direct visitor expenditure injected into the local communities each year.
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