Growth in its meeting infrastructure and accommodation has pushed Australia’s South West forward as a serious contender as a meetings and incentives destination that offers a more tranquil and natural alternative than the hustle and bustle of our country’s capital cities.
Its natural beauty paired with a flourishing wine and food industry make the region a unique part of Australia for both domestic and international conference and incentive (C&I) groups to experience.
Australia’s South West’s scenery is like something off a postcard, encompassing undulating hills, towering karri forests and a stretch of coastline which shows off sandy beaches, rugged cliffs and sparkling water filled with marine life.
The budding C&I destination makes up one of Western Australia’s five tourism regions, with Experience Perth, Australia’s Golden Outback, Australia’s Coral Coast and Australia’s North West.
Boasting a high level of infrastructure outside the metropolitan area and a large number of tourism operators, Australia’s South West is organised into five sub-regions: South West Tapestry, an area rich in maritime history, and also home to the cosmopolitan City of Bunbury and the popular Geographe Wine Region; Blackwood River Valley, a serene country region just three hours south from Perth by road; Margaret River Wine Region, boasting premium wines, fresh produce, limestone caves and unspoilt ocean vistas; Southern Forests, which is thick with forests of karri, marri and tingle trees, rich coastal plains and wildlife-filled wetlands; and Great Southern, a place of national parks, olive groves and rolling pastoral landscapes.
Bearing boutique hotels, resorts and meeting facilities catering to a range of group sizes, each individual sub-region provides its own unique offering to the C&I market. Combining these five sub-regions together, Australia’s South West is poised to present an explosion of program possibilities, from a tour of the region’s caves and grottos or a food and fresh produce appreciation trip, to a meeting among some award-winning vines or a lustrous evening function on one of the many pristine beaches.
Conference facilities in various areas throughout the region can cater for small and intimate groups through to corporate functions, exhibitions and events of more than 500. And with a variety of accommodation dotted about, you can be sure groups will have a place to stay that’s not too far away from their meeting venues.
In fact, getting to Australia’s South West is relatively effortless. The region begins a short drive south Perth, and Margaret River, for instance, is only 273 kilometres from WA’s capital city.
Spring was in the air when three industry members joined famil hosts from the Perth Convention Bureau recently on a trip south from Perth to check out what the much-talked-about region has to offer. The four-day itinerary was packed to the brim with things to see and do, and while Perth-based Ms Percival had visited Australia’s South West prior to the famil, she had been only for leisure purposes, and was keen to revisit the area to learn more about it from a C&I perspective. “A lot of facilities and hotels had been updated and refreshed since I was last there, so it was well worth the trip,” she said.
Leaving Perth, the group jumped into a six-seater 4WD (“which wasn’t quite big enough with everyone’s shopping in it by the end of the trip.”) and headed south for about one hour towards Mandurah – an intriguing boating-cum-fishing destination which can still be referred to as town, but Ms Percival said it’s growing enormously.
“Mandurah is an up-and-coming place. It’s got a great performing arts centre which seats about 800 people, and it’s home to the lovely Seashells Resort Mandurah. A new train line will open in December which will run from Perth to Mandurah in 38 minutes.”
From there, the group went on to Capel Vale Winery – a family-owned winery where they still hand-pick the grapes – and they enjoyed a platter lunch al fresco, overlooking the vineyard. They then visited the Busselton Jetty Interpretative Centre (about three hours’ drive from Perth), taking a walk along the 1.8-kilometre jetty (“I’d been to Busselton many times, but had never been right out the end of Busselton Jetty. It was fascinating!”). They then travelled to the nearby beachside Bayview Geographe Resort – a large property ideal for conferences and events of up to 350, also providing three-bedroom villas and two-bedroom hotel-style accommodation which Ms Percival said was great for both corporates and families.
Afterwards, they checked into the Broadwater Resort & Spa in Dunsborough, which offers a function room with ocean views, 88 guest rooms and Toby’s Restaurant, where the group had dinner. In the morning, they travelled to Merribrook Retreat in Margaret River – a lodge set in 160-acres of land which offers villa accommodation. It’s much more than just a boutique retreat with conference facilities for 40 people, according to Ms Percival.
“Lorraine and Richard (the owners) also offer corporate training. They specialise in big corporate training exercises, and outdoor team-building events to promote team spirit through incentive and themed challenges and leadership courses.”
Departing Merribrook, it was onwards to Olio Bello, a boutique organic olive farm where the group experienced the production factory to see how olive oil is made, and then on to Vasse Felix, which Ms Percival said is quite a famous winery in WA. “It’s the oldest commercial winery in the state, operating since 1967. They celebrated their 40th anniversary in November.”
Just before lunch the group partook in an afternoon of creating their own wine, as part of a regularly-operated team-building activity at the venue. The person who made the best-tasting wine won a prize – an activity which Ms Percival described as “really interesting and really fun – the perfect team-builder”.
Then they checked in at the Asian-inspired boutique hotel Moondance Lodge in Margaret River. “The hotel has 16 rooms which are absolutely stunning. It’s quite focused on wellbeing and nourishing the soul, and is great for smaller conferences,” Ms Percival said.
Dinner that night was at the heritage-listed hotel, Seashells Caves House, which had just reopened after closing down for major renovations. Surrounded in beautiful old-world gardens, the hotel has a function room for 180 people, and is opening up an additional 36 rooms in December this year.
The following day, the group went up to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse where they saw whales in the ocean (“I got carried away. I love whales!”), then moved on to the beachside Quay West Bunker Bay, which Ms Percival said is a large property with spacious villas, a beautiful day spa, a fixed marquee for functions of 450 people and meeting rooms for up to 180. The group had lunch at the resort’s restaurant out on the verandah overlooking the water.
After visiting Ngigli Cave, the group checked into the Quest Margaret River located smack-bang in the middle of the Margaret River township. “The modern self-contained apartments were great middle-of-the-road accommodation – very competitive price and good value.”
The next morning, they drove down through forest after forest of Karri trees through to Jewel Cave, about 30 minutes’ drive from the township. After exploring the cave, they went on east to Manjimup. Ms Percival said the trip was supposed to take about an hour, but it was more like an hour-and-a-half before they arrived at the last stop of the famil, The Wine and Truffle Co. But as the venue was her trip highlight, she waved off the extended journey.
“The Wine and Truffle Co was really fascinating because it’s very unique. The company has started a truffle farm in Australia’s South West and are now exporting their truffles to Paris. Truffles are about $3000 a kilo, and until recently, they were only grown in France and Italy. We did some wine tasting and then sat down and had lunch among the oak trees – it was really special. It would be a great spot for groups to go on a half-day trip.”
After lunch, the group returned to Perth, which they reached after about three hours.
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