NW tourism, given a leg up

A tourism development program in the Pilbara will seek to guide new operators through the start-up process in order to get more operators up and running in the region.

The Business Centre Pilbara was awarded $600,000 over a three-year period under the Australian Small Business Advisory Services grant scheme announced by the Federal Government in March.

BCP chief executive Paul Jagger said the funding program would be used to build capacity to offer tourism business development services across the Pilbara, including Exmouth. It will be known as the Warlu Way — a nod to the route connecting many tourist hotspots in the North West.

“There is a focus on indigenous tourism, but another reason for picking the name is historically the Warlu Way was developed as such to celebrate Aboriginal people in the Pilbara,” he said. “The stage we’re at now is developing the process, how we will start engaging with business.

“We haven’t operated services in Newman so we need to make sure we’re doing that in an appropriate way (through) local indigenous consultants.

“This program is about activating interest and working closely with business intenders.”

Mr Jagger said for the most part the service would be free, with only minimal costs for planned workshops and events.

“Hopefully we see more businesses start up and therefore more tourism product for tourism to enjoy.

“For this program we are being more specific in what that service support needs because its about business working in the tourism sector.”

Durack MHR Melissa Price said the funding would assist the BCP’s support of small businesses across the Pilbara and Exmouth.