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West Australians make up for international and interstate tourism shortfall at Rottnest Island since reopening

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Caitlyn RintoulThe West Australian
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Perth radio producer Janine Chatfield enjoying winter with her children on Rottnest Island. Her husband Ryan used to live on Perth’s holiday island for five years as a scuba instructor so the couple consider Rottnest their “second home”.
Camera IconPerth radio producer Janine Chatfield enjoying winter with her children on Rottnest Island. Her husband Ryan used to live on Perth’s holiday island for five years as a scuba instructor so the couple consider Rottnest their “second home”. Credit: Ryan Chatfield/@_ryanchatfield,

WA’s only real “overseas” holiday spot amid COVID-19 — Rottnest Island — is experiencing a bookings bonanza since it was re-opened to the public.

The number of accommodation bookings on the island jumped 67-per cent in August when compared to 2019, becoming the destination of choice for locals who made up for the shortfall of international and interstate guests.

July also saw a rise from 2019, with a 29 per cent increase in Rottnest Island Authority accommodation bookings.

Since reopening on June 6, about 9400 bookings have been made on Perth's favourite holiday island.

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A quokka Perth woman Monika snapped during a family trip to Rottnest in August.
Camera IconA quokka Perth woman Monika snapped during a family trip to Rottnest in August. Credit: Instagram/@disorganizedmamabear

Rottnest closed to the public on March 24 to transform into a COVID-19 quarantine zone for returning West Australian international travellers.

The first batch of travellers ordered to serve 14-days on the island were 200 passengers from the Vasco da Gama cruise ship.

Rottnest Island Chamber of Commerce chairwoman Deborah Carr attributed the jump to the State Government’s ‘Get Quokka Happy’ campaign, that offered discounts on accommodation and waived the island admission fees for overnight visitors — a saving of $25 per adult.

“There are a couple of reasons. One is pent-up demand. We're all been shut down in a sense and every plan (West Australians) had to travel... was basically not on the books anymore,” Ms Carr said.

“What we did early on in the piece, in April, the Chamber of Commerce and the Rottnest Island Authority worked together to develop a very, very strong reopening campaign.

“That actually came about with the overarching 'Get Quokka Happy' campaign.

“We knew what we needed was to get really strong price points for the accommodation and those price points have worked exceptionally well for the island.

“The uptake has been fantastic and it's been good to see that we've had good support from our Perth local market.”

One family who took up the deal was Perth couple Brandon and Monika, who visited between August 27-30 with their daughter Amara and son Lucas.

“I adore the place and I'm a sucker for a quokka selfie,” said Monika.

Perth woman Monika getting a quokka selfie during a trip to Rottnest Island with her family in August. She and her husband Brandon were one of the many families who took up the deals during the 'Get Quokka Happy' campaign.
Camera IconPerth woman Monika getting a quokka selfie during a trip to Rottnest Island with her family in August. She and her husband Brandon were one of the many families who took up the deals during the 'Get Quokka Happy' campaign. Credit: Instagram/@disorganizedmamabear

Monika said they visited three years ago and this trip was a family affair, with her in-laws joining them.

“We hired bikes this time and rode around most of the island. I definitely would recommend it to anyone, especially a young family. It is a little expensive, otherwise we would go more often,” she said.

Perth radio producer Janine Chatfield and her photographer husband Ryan consider the island their “second home” and were excited it was able to reopen in June.

“Ryan formerly lived on the island as a scuba instructor so he is able to share his knowledge of the island with the kids, the best beaches to go to for surfing, diving, snorkelling or to take the perfect family pic,” she said.

Ms Chatfield said winter was always a perfect time to visit, with a trip to the bakery and a “vino” some of her favourite activities.

“For me as a mum, I love nothing more than heading straight to the bakery, loading up on supplies and biking out to the Basin with the kids,” she said.

“Ryan’s has his own multimedia production company... so as a photographer Rotto is a photographers playground. Air, land and sea shots are all postcard perfect.”

However, day trips since reopening have dropped by about 80 per cent, according to Ms Carr.

While it’s only the first week of September, accommodation bookings are up 25 per cent for the month compared to 2019.

“September is looking very, very strong. October and November is picking up well for us,” Ms Carr said.

“We're fairly confident that in the larger December, January school holiday (period) it is going to be hard to get accommodation.”

Ms Carr said while there wouldn’t be a pool of international and interstate workers to fill seasonal positions on the island, she doubted businesses would struggle as it was a “sought-after destination to work” for Year 12s just out of school or university students on break.

One family who took up the deals during the 'Get Quokka Happy' campaign was Perth couple Brandon and Monika, who visited between August 27-30 with their daughter Amara and son Lucas.
Camera IconOne family who took up the deals during the 'Get Quokka Happy' campaign was Perth couple Brandon and Monika, who visited between August 27-30 with their daughter Amara and son Lucas. Credit: Instagram/@disorganizedmamabear

Throughout September, the island will celebrate its second quokka birthday, which is a month-long event involving musical gigs, nature tours and free travel for children aged 12 and under.

One venue that has been booming with bookings is Samphire Rottnest - which hasn’t even opened.

Scheduled to throw its doors open to overnight guests on October 19, the luxury venue has already experienced strong pre-sale numbers.

The strong sales come despite no images being listed of the rooms on Samphire’s website.

Several rooms have already sold out for October, including the Beach Lane Upper King Suite, Poolside King Suite and Poolside Upper King Suite.

West Australians keen to venture further for an island holiday can now also visit Christmas Island and the Cocos Keeling Islands, after the Australian Territories reopened to their closest State in July.

All visitors to the Indian Ocean islands must have been in WA for a minimum 14 days prior to travel but there is no requirement to self isolate upon arrival at the islands or upon return to Perth.

WA also has several other established island retreats from the Mackerel Islands near Onslow in the north to Woody Island near Esperance in the south.

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