Many accommodation providers in the region reported uncharacteristically high occupancy rates over winter, especially for August.

The AMRTA saw a 52 per cent increase in gross takings for accommodation and tour bookings in August, suggesting an increase in visitation to the region.

The AMRTA also experienced higher than usual media enquiries, indicating the region is a hot destination topic.

During June website visits to the AMRTA website leaped from about 65,000 in 2006 to 96,954 for 2007.

June typically receives fewer website visits compared to any other month of the year.

However, for 2007, more visits were recorded for June than January (typically the busiest month).

The Association attributes this growth to the increasing popularity of the region, quality search engine optimisation, and margaretriver.com brand campaigns.

One of the AMRTA’s key branding exercises for the May/June period was the release of two regional television ad campaigns promoting the margaretriver.com brand and the whale season in Augusta.

In the 06/07 financial year international bookings increased from the previous financial year by 25 per cent for the UK, 62 per cent for Indonesia, 53 per cent for Malaysia, 10 per cent for Singapore, and 33 per cent for New Zealand.

A comparison of the 2006 and ‘07 winter months showed similar results for international bookings, most notably Singapore which was up 40 per cent and Malaysia 55 per cent on the previous year.

The marketing department of the AMRTA has also noted a rise in international media enquiries during the winter months, particularly from Asia, including Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Korea.

This could be the result of the recent introduction of low-cost airlines operating flights from Asia to Australia, such as Tiger Airways who began flights to Perth in March.

The AMRTA has increased its marketing expenditure by 57 per cent over the past year.