Visitors make town boom

Local businesses have reported a successful holiday period thanks to West Australians staying in WA due to border closures. Manjimup Visitor Centre customer services officer Chloe White said the town had been bustling over the Christmas and New Year break. “We’ve had a massive influx of mostly Western Australians,” she said. “I think a lot of people have suddenly got a greater understanding of the regional areas and are exploring their backyard a bit more. Southern Roasting Co manager Ruiglent Tuci said his business had been performing incredibly well in recent weeks. “We definitely did better numbers than last year,” he said. “The town was buzzing. “Even when I finished work here I could see the pubs and the restaurants were all busy. “I think the border being closed has helped the WA economy to get better.” Manjimup Toyworld Owner Jenny Hanrahan, pictured outside her store, said despite stock restrictions, her business was also performing better than in previous years. “People tend to be touring around locally here or more people coming down from Perth travelling,” she said. Manjimup Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Dr Paul Griffiths said there had been a real focus on promoting local business around this time of year. “Our efforts are to get a culture of shopping developing within the town,” he said. Dr Griffiths said the chamber would work with the council to continue creating a unified retail experience for visitors to the area. “We’re going to pick out times where retail are going to likely be more busy and then make sure that there is a group approach to it,” he said. Dr Griffiths said he expected business to be more successful this year. “I wouldn’t be surprised by the flukes of all the COVID-19 restrictions that we actually end up being more busy this year than we have been in previous years.”