Tourists flock to Kalbarri this school holidays as cyclone Narelle limits trips further north

Kalbarri is reaping the benefits of a silver lining with tourists rolling into town en masse, defying apprehension over the impact of tropical cyclone Narelle’s destruction further north and soaring fuel prices.

The damage caused to destinations like Exmouth has prompted holiday cancellations or tourists instead opting to go to places such as Kalbarri.

For the first week of school holidays, Kalbarri was “business as usual” as caravan parks were filled to the brim, day-hire businesses were handing out equipment and tourists walked hand-in-hand along the beach.

Nat Moir, Kalbarri Visitor Centre manager, noted there was a level of apprehension around town leading up to the tourism season, yet confirmed there “was no need to worry”.

She said the Easter weekend was very busy as initially expected — usually the busiest weekend for the small coastal town.

Ms Moir said the first week of the school holidays also met expectations, with most of the town completely booked and bustling with life.

“Thankfully, after everything, people still came for the Easter weekend and the first week of holidays,” she said.

“It was very busy for the first week, which we sort of expected. We had lots on, so it was a great week.”

Despite tourism success over the last couple of weeks, Ms Moir said the next challenge was bringing in tourists over the second week of the holidays and for the upcoming caravan season.

She attributed this to rising fuel costs and the “cost over supply issue”.

“We want people to come here, and we want them to know that we have supplies. We’re not experiencing any supply issues in Kalbarri, so if you can, do come,” she said.

Grant Ward, owner of Kalbarri Wilderness Cruises, echoed similar sentiments and said “the town’s been alive and busy this school holidays”.

Mr Ward was fearful of the impact the cyclone may have caused but was pleased with the outcome.

“We didn’t know what to expect with Narelle; we didn’t know if it would hit us, but it’s been really busy,” he said.

“These school holidays have been on par with last year’s.”

Steven Eley, co-owner of Kalbarri Sport & Dive, agreed the town had a “really good school holidays”.

“It’s been an awesome top-up considering the Christmas school holidays were a fair way down on what they had been in the past,” he said.

Mr Eley was concerned for the future of tourism in the town, with rising fuel prices and a ban on demersal fishing along the west coast.

“We’ve had a really good period right now. But the uncertainty of fuel prices, the uncertainty of the demersal ban and everything else that’s going on is still there,” he said.

Fuel costs were noted to be the main issue affecting tourism at the moment, according to owner of Kalbarri Quadbike Safaris, Ellen Nightingale.

Ms Nightingale said she was affected by the floods caused by cyclone Narelle as her course for quad bikes crosses the river, and they couldn’t cross it for five days.

She said she faced “a lot of uncertainty, but we’re back crossing the river”.

Although people are still cancelling plans for the holidays ahead, many say: “We’re planning on going to Exmouth.”

Taking into account cyclone Narelle and the cost of fuel, Ms Nightingale said she had seen a 50 per cent decrease in the number of visits this April compared to last.