Tourist boost to give Geraldton a big holiday buzz

Geraldton hotel operators are preparing for a bumper summer holiday period with record-breaking occupancy levels expected in the coming month. Despite a disastrous first half of 2020, hoteliers say Geraldton is fast developing a reputation as a tourist destination among WA residents who haven’t visited for years. Gerald Apartment Hotel assistant general manager Gemma Clark said the second half of the year had been fantastic for the business, with visitors showing a lot of excitement about the city. “We’re going to be nearly full over the next month,” she said. “Last December we had 57 per cent occupancy, but this year we’re on-track for about 80 per cent.” She said efforts by the City to market Geraldton to WA residents had paid off this year with almost full occupancy over the July school holidays. Broadwater Resort managing director Scott Cogar believed COVID-19 had led to renewed interest in travelling regionally in WA, which will last for some time. “I think we’ve hit a significant tipping point for tourism to Geraldton,” he said. “Traditionally over Christmas the city isn’t too busy but already our holiday bookings are better than what we achieved in the last three years.” In recent years Geraldton had become a “much more appealing destination” for intrastate travellers, with marketing the city as a hub for the Mid West working “very successfully”. “Guests now seem to be staying for more nights and using the time to explore the region. The second half of this year was huge.” Similarly, Ocean Centre Hotel manager Natasha Gibson said a lot of visitors have told her they were impressed by how much Geraldton had changed since their last visit. “The months since the internal borders opened have been huge,” she said. “We broke a 30-year record of consecutive days sold out in a row, something we had never seen before.” She said the summer bookings were exceeding past years “by up to 75 per cent” which led them to hire more staff. Mayor Shane Van Styn welcomed the influx of visitors over summer, saying it would lead to a “positive flow-on effect to local businesses”. “Whether it be people coming to visit family and friends, home for the break, or getting out and about in WA to explore — we look forward to seeing Geraldton buzzing,” he said.