Tourist town at crossroads

Broome - one of the shining pearls on WA's tourism landscape in the past four decades - stands at the crossroads.

After a season last year when tourist numbers plummeted to some of their lowest on record, the Kimberley town has taken the first tentative steps towards recovery.

The route of the recovery remains a hotly divided issue.

Committees have been formed and strategies are being developed, but there are clear divisions over the type of elixir that needs to be swallowed to immunise the town from another downturn.

When _The West Australian _visited Broome last week, the divisions were stark.

Some wanted a massive tourism infrastructure injection like a new marina and a waterpark, while others advocated a "no-need-to-do-anything" approach.

Some, such as Pinctada Resort owner Marilynne Paspaley, said Broome's reputation was "an exotic bubble" that needed to be protected at all costs.

Others, such as local businessman Peter Taylor, believe the town needs to diversify and build other industries to prevent it from being "held to ransom by the fluctuations of the tourist industry".

For Tourism WA executive director of infrastructure and investment Derryn Belford Broome is a critical part of WA's tourism industry.

"If we want to grow the size of the tourism industry in WA, we need to grow in our iconic destinations such as Broome, Margaret River, Ningaloo and Albany," she said.

"A tourism growth plan is currently being developed by the local industry to identify the pathway to growth. Initial indications are that there is no silver bullet."

Since last year's downturn, pockets within the Broome tourism sector have prospered.

Boat cruises that take small groups of people on expensive trips around the Kimberley have thrived and are already taking bookings for 2016.

For example, the Great Escape charter operation, where patrons pay up to $18,000 for a 13-night cruise, has reported extraordinary recent sales.

"We have had more charter bookings this year - where groups of 14 friends book the whole cruise - than ever before," general manager Kylie Bartle said.

"It seems people are prepared to spend for the holiday of a lifetime and they want to share it with friends. We offer something you can't see or experience anywhere else in the world. It is very spiritual for many people."

Shire president Graeme Campbell said the success of these cruise operations was good for Broome because patrons were generally encouraged to stay a night or two in town before and after the tour.

Mr Campbell said the bigger cruise ships - though a little down in number - were also providing an economic windfall for the town of about $500,000 a day for every visit.

And with the news that Princess Cruises planned to double the number of ships visiting Broome next year, the future was relatively bright.

Mr Campbell said the face of the local caravanning sector had also changed in recent years, with many regulars staying for shorter periods.

"There was a time when caravanners would head to Broome to escape the cold in the south," he said. "But when it's still a beautiful 30C in Perth in April, why would you come up?

"So where they used to stay 13 to 14 weeks, caravanners are now staying 10 to 12 weeks."

Mr Campbell said land-based tour operations had struggled in recent years.

But Simone Kapiteyn and Rory Dreyer, operators of Adventure Wild, say their 12-day guided bus camping tours have been growing in popularity.

"It's been going brilliantly," Ms Kapiteyn said. "Ninety per cent full this year and we are now taking bookings for 2015.

"Yesterday, we had our first inquiry for 2016."

Mr Dreyer said most of their customers were couples, often middle to retirement age.

The town's high-end accommodation also seems to be doing OK. Cable Beach Resort general manager Ron Sedon said they had enjoyed a "nice turnaround" this year, with more conferencing coming through and the leisure market "a little more buoyant".

"We have been getting a nice mix of tourists this year - it seems people have become a little jaded with Bali and are looking for something a little different," he said.

"It seems the retired baby boomer market has materialised and they seem to be looking for the sort of holiday we can offer."

Ms Paspaley said Pinctada was looking at a good season.

She said airfares had become more affordable for holidaymakers, with fewer business travellers snapping up the cheaper tickets.

Matso's Brewery manager Matthew Cooper also expects this year to be a good tourist season.

Like many other operators in the town, Mr Cooper said the overwhelming majority of visitors to Matso's - the most isolated brewery in Australia - were from Perth, but there were also strong numbers from Melbourne and Sydney.

Broome chamber of commerce president Tony Proctor said the outlook for Broome was not all doom and gloom.

"Broome will develop into something really interesting over the next 10 years," he said. "This has been a town of phases - the meatworks phase, the pearling phase.

"We are in the latest phase and tourism is going to play an important role.

"As will the servicing of the planned floating LNG plant and the 50 exploration wells that we expect to be drilled in the Browse Basin."

Mr Proctor said there had been strong bookings in Broome this year, despite the lack of any additional tourism infrastructure and the continuing negative perception of Broome and its high airfares.

But several locals believe there must be more to the town than tourism.

Mr Taylor and other businessmen have banded together to launch an "open for business" campaign to lure more diverse businesses to the town.

"There is a perception that Broome only wants to be a tourist town," he said. "But Broome has to diversify its economy.

"The tourist season does not run year round and is susceptible to outside factors like the value of the Australian dollar and airfares. So we have got together to say that Broome is open for business and we want to encourage and assist businesses to make the move."

Former shire president Ron Johnson has been involved in the creation of Broome Futures Limited, a group modelled directly on the Committee for Perth that aims to make Broome the best possible town it can be.

Broome has to diversify its economy. " Businessman Peter Taylor