Kimberley holiday bookings surge despite lingering doubts over whether tourists will be able to enter WA

There is cautious optimism among East Kimberley tourism operators as West Australians and hopeful interstate travellers seek to go on outback adventures this year. With borders to the rest of Australia slowly being removed and the promise of a good wet season filling waterholes and stoking waterfalls, business owners are reporting strong forward bookings for the Kimberley dry season. At the end of last month, bookings at the Lake Argyle Resort were up more than 400 per cent compared to the same time in 2019, the retreat’s largest season to date. Lake Argyle Resort owner Charlie Sharpe, pictured, said holiday makers were booking accommodation and caravan sites well in advance, despite the uncertainty surrounding future COVID-19 restrictions. “We've tried to keep up with demand but this year we can't, it's just crazy,” he said. “When things reopened, especially in that November-December period, all of a sudden our traditional bookings that come in January, February and March started coming in hard and fast.” With 12 new villas open since August last year, Mr Sharpe said boosted capacity would help cater for an increase in visitors to the resort, which in 2019 accommodated 500 people per night in peak season. He said he was hopeful COVID-19 restrictions in the Kimberley would remain in their current state and the 2021 Lake Argyle Swim would go ahead on May 1. Mount Hart Wilderness Lodge owner Colin Fitzgerald said his operation was also ready for an influx of visitors after a disappointing 2020. The lodge stayed open for tourists despite last year’s travel restrictions, but with so many other stations on the Gibb River Road shut and with hire cars hard to come by, Mr Fitzgerald said visitation was down 70 per cent. “Our tour buses are fully booked and Mount Hart’s bookings are looking excellent,” he said. “We have had 770mm (of rain) since beginning of December so the place is looking fantastic.” Further along the Gibb, Ellenbrae Station manager Logan Walker said last year’s shutdown gave him and his partner Larissa White an opportunity to be tourists in their own backyard. “We had the chance to explore the property, which we normally don’t get to do because we’re busy baking scones,” he said. “The property is one million acres so there’s always corners you always fly over or drive past where you wonder what’s down there.” Mr Walker said while doubt remained over the 2021 tourism season, he was confident of swinging open Ellenbrae’s gates to visitors again. “We are definitely looking to re-open, hoping it will be a boomer, but are cautiously optimistic and will just play it by ear,” he said. “We haven’t baked any scones for nearly 18 months by the time we reopen, so hopefully they are still good.” While many stations have already confirmed plans to reopen this year, a date for tourists to return to Home Valley Station remains up in the air. HV8 owners Indigenous Land and Sea Council confirmed last week that its subsidiary, Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia, had ceased management of the destination. Future management is currently being discussed and bookings are not being taken in the meantime. In Broome the State Government’s Wander Out Yonder campaign has led to an influx of tourists in recent months. Cable Beach Caravan Park owner Ron Beacham said uncertainty on WA border restrictions was hampering an otherwise rosy outlook. “You have got the position at present where we have no idea if the borders will open, nor does anybody,” he said. “If they do stay open well we will be bloody busy, and if they don’t — well it is hard to give an answer.” Mr Beacham said interstate travellers would struggle to find peak-season accommodation in Broome if borders were to open. “July and half of August, we are very tight,” he said. Mr Beacham said many of last year’s visitors were booking in to further explore the Kimberley this year.