Tourists spend more if they use visitor centre: study

Tourists spend over $100 more on their holidays in Western Australia if they visit a local visitor centre, a new study has revealed.

Work by Tourism Research Australia and Tourism WA has found that visitor centres play an important role in offering financial contribution to the area that they represent.

The study revealed that tourists spend an extra $104 in WA after calling in to a visitor centre.

There were more than 1.1 million visits to WA visitor centres last year, injecting $117 million into the State’s economy and creating more than 900 local jobs.

Broome Visitor Centre general manager Nick Linton said he was delighted by the findings.

“A happy tourist will spend money, boosting the economy,” he said.

“We welcome 150,000 people through our doors each year. This research shows that visitors that go to a visitor Centre spend an extra $104 during their stay; based on this we are generating an extra $15.6 million to the Broome economy.”

Shire of Broome president Graeme Campbell said that council was pleased to continue its support of the Broome Visitor Centre.

“This financial year the Shire is contributing $110,000 to the work of the Broome Visitor Centre, along with a further $25,000 in 2015 for the BVC and Broome Chamber of Commerce to jointly manage cruise ship visits,” he said.

“We’re also pleased to work with the BVC on collaborative projects such as the Perth Royal Show Guest Town in 2014 that has had a significant flow-on effect for tourism in Broome.”