La Nina driving surge in WA holiday bookings from Eastern States residents fleeing yet another wet Christmas

The prospect of a third consecutive rain-ruined summer on the east coast is helping drive a flood of interstate tourists to WA – prompting warnings for West Australians planning to holiday at home to book quickly or risk missing out.

Forward bookings for accommodation, tours and hospitality over the summer holidays are tracking 16 per cent higher than last year, according to a recent survey by Tourism Council WA.

With borders closed for the past two Christmases, WA’s regional tourism operators have enjoyed bumper summer seasons and appear set for a repeat in 2022.

However, Tourism Council WA boss Evan Hall said there was also strong growth in Perth-based bookings compared to during the pandemic, when many businesses deprived of international and interstate tourists struggled.

Mr Hall believes the rush on travel plans in WA is being driven by two factors: the third La Nina declaration is as many years – which threatens to soak swathes of the eastern seaboard further – and the re-emergence of older West Australians finally shedding their COVID fears.

“We’re seeing interstate visitors going ‘I’m going to go where the weather’s good, I don’t want to have another washed out rainy summer,’” Tourism Council WA Evan Hall.

“So we are pretty attractive on that score, particularly if they have friends and family here.”

A La Nina weather pattern in the tropical Pacific enhances the likelihood of above-average rainfall in the spring and summer for most of Australia.

While La Nina can heighten the threat of cyclones impacting WA’s north coast, the remainder of the State is generally spared from the kind of soaking that be expected in capital cities like Brisbane and Sydney which has already smashed its annual rainfall record with nearly three months remaining in 2022.

The influx of interstate tourists comes as Mr Hall said Tourism Council research found WA retirees who had given up travel during the pandemic were finally hitting the road again and planning trips within the State.

“That is all about people from Perth leaving Perth and going into the regions,” Mr Hall said.

“One of our main challenges is at the time of the year, they’re all heading in the same direction. Everyone goes south for summer and north for winter.”

To beat the rush, Mr Hall said West Australians needed to lock in their school holiday travel plans now — with availability over the Christmas week already scarce.

“But the bit of advice I’ve got is if you have decided where you’re going and you already have your accommodation booked, book now for all the things you want to do while you’re there — otherwise there is a good chance you’re going to miss out,” he said.

That includes tours and restaurants, with Mr Hall saying staffing shortages and supply chain disruptions meant many businesses were being forced to make decisions now about how many bookings they would accept over summer — and in many cases were reducing capacity.