Tourism guide aimed at driving holidays

A new tourism guide showcasing the sights of the Pilbara and Warlu Way to touring motorists has been attracting a high level of interest among visitors to the region, according to its publisher.

Last month, the Pilbara Regional Council produced a The Pilbara and the Warlu Way, to draw WA residents’ attention to the region as a tourist destination.

PRC chief executive Tony Friday said the guide was intended to “re-set perceptions” of the Pilbara among tourists and highlight the variety of destinations including Karijini National Park, the Burrup Peninsula, the Mackerel Islands and old Onslow. “There’s a bit of a vacuum in destination marketing for the Pilbara,” he said.

“This has been a longstanding issue where we’ve various operators popping up an doing their part bringing products to the region ... but the region’s got to get out and sell out itself as a whole.

“The missing piece of the puzzle was a lack of destination information.”

Mr Friday said the guide was especially targeted at WA tourists on driving holidays, who needed to know about key Pilbara destinations early on in their trip because “once they’ve driven past them we’ve lost them”.

The guide is an update of a 2015 edition. A companion brochure being released in coming months.

Mr Friday said the booklet had sold in the thousands since its release a few weeks ago.

You can find The Pilbara and the Warlu Way guide in visitor centres, local government offices, tourism transport companies, accommodation providers and airports across the region.

An online version can be viewed at prc.wa.gov.au/project/warlu-way-brochure.