{"id":507418,"date":"2026-01-11T01:20:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T01:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/507418\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T01:20:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T01:20:36","slug":"wa-towns-plan-for-overtourism-amid-concerns-attractions-could-become-overcrowded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/507418\/","title":{"rendered":"WA towns plan for ‘overtourism’ amid concerns attractions could become overcrowded"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Western Australian tourist towns experience an influx of summer visitors, some locals are worried their home towns could become too crowded unless visitor numbers are controlled at attractions and beaches.<\/p>\n

At one of the South West’s biggest attractions, the Busselton Jetty, visitation has grown by more than 60 per cent over the past decade.<\/p>\n

As many as 10,000 people visited the jetty between Christmas and New Year’s Day.<\/p>\n

\"Swimmers<\/p>\n

Every year the Busselton Jetty swim attracts thousands of people to the region’s biggest attraction. (Supplied: Abby Murray Photography)<\/p>\n

Staff have been looking at ways to avoid overtourism in the future.<\/p>\n

Busselton Jetty CEO Lisa Shreeve said she was conscious of keeping the place ‘special’.<\/p>\n

“When you go to places around the world like the Trevi Fountain and you see 10,000 people standing there, it really impacts your experience if you have to be so congested,” she said<\/p>\n

“The Busselton Jetty is special and we don’t want to lose that.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Lisa Shreeve says she does not want to see the attraction become as busy as places like the Trevi Fountain in Italy. (ABC South West WA: Jacqueline Lynch)<\/p>\n

Ms Shreeve said the team would consider limiting the number of people on tours and other ways to spread out visitation.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think we would have to cap walk tickets at this stage but we definitely have to cap underwater observatory tickets and train tickets.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Staff at the Busselton Jetty are looking at ways to avoid overtourism, including caps on people taking its tours. (ABC South West WA: Jacqueline Lynch)<\/p>\n

‘Crazy’ Dunsborough tourism<\/p>\n

In the neighbouring town of Dunsborough, the chair of the local reference group said he wanted the town’s visitor numbers capped by limiting accommodation spots.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jeff Forrest has seen the beaches around his hometown become busier over the decades. (ABC South West WA: Jacqueline Lynch)<\/p>\n

Jeff Forrest has lived in Dunsborough for almost 40 years and said he had seen local beaches become increasingly busy.<\/p>\n

“Every year we see something crazy,” he said.<\/p>\n

“There has been times where on the coast you can’t get a car park at all, not even on the side of the road.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

At peak times in can be difficult to find a car park at places like Meelup Beach. (ABC South West WA: Jacqueline Lynch)<\/p>\n

“We welcome tourists, that’s important, but if we’re not careful overtourism will actually destroy the character, the amenity, the natural environment, the beauty of the area that we’ve got to sell.”<\/p>\n

He said he was worried the region was reaching its limit.<\/p>\n

“How many sheep can you put in a paddock before you ruin the paddock,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he said<\/p>\n

“It’s about working out what the real carrying capacity of the area is and then finding ways to manage and restrict the numbers that come here.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

There are concerns extra people and cars are putting pressure on the natural environment. (ABC South West WA: Jacqueline Lynch)<\/p>\n

Slice of paradise for everyone<\/p>\n

At Meelup Beach many visitors were not keen on the idea of capping tourists to Dunsborough.<\/p>\n

\"Kalia<\/p>\n

Kalia and Matt Alessi\u00a0say they are happy to share the beach, which is far less crowded than coastal areas in Sydney. (ABC South West WA: Jacqueline Lynch)<\/p>\n

Kalia and Matt Alessi have lived in Syndey and said beaches in the eastern states were far busier.<\/p>\n

“For a really busy time of the year, it’s been quite a nice beach to enjoy,” Ms Alessi said.<\/p>\n

“Tourism boosts the economy so much [and] we want to respect locals as much as possible, but if you put a cap you might hinder other organisations.”<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Some say compared to beaches in places like Sydney it is not that busy on WA beaches. (AAP: Dan Himbrechts)<\/p>\n

The pair said they were happy to share the beach.<\/p>\n

“The beach is for everyone, regardless of how busy it is, so I think to put a cap is a little bit selfish and greedy,” said Mr Alessi.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Meelup Beach has been bustling with visitors over the summer. (ABC South West WA: Jacqueline Lynch)<\/p>\n

Council reluctant to intervene<\/p>\n

The City of Busselton has already cracked down on short-stay accommodation like Airbnb<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mayor Phil Cronin said the council was unlikely to intervene further.<\/p>\n

He said the issue would fix itself before numbers grew to levels seen in some parts of Europe<\/a> and the eastern states.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Phil Cronin says he thinks people will naturally turn away from the region if it becomes too busy. (ABC South West WA: Jacqueline Lynch)<\/p>\n

“If we get to a point of saturation this won’t be such an attractive place to be,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he said.<\/p>\n

“Tourism brings in $1 billion a year just to this area … we have to embrace tourism.”<\/p>\n

\"Tourists<\/p>\n

Greens Pool, near Denmark, has also been popular with visitors over the summer. (ABC Great Southern: Rosemary Murphy)<\/p>\n

Explore elsewhere\u00a0<\/p>\n

Further south, The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions warned holidaymakers on social media about ‘chock-a-block’ car parks at places like William Bay National Park, near Denmark.<\/p>\n

\"Cars<\/p>\n

The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has spotted cars parking on the side of the access road into Greens Pool in Denmark. (Supplied: DBCA)<\/p>\n

Regional Leader for Parks and Visitor Services Peter Masters\u00a0has urged visitors to “go elsewhere” if their favourite spots were full.<\/p>\n

“A lot of national parks at times get overloved,” he said\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We don’t want damage to the vegetation. There’s also increased risk of fire from starting underneath their vehicles so please park in the designated areas.<\/p>\n

“Everyone doesn’t necessarily need to go to the coast to have a good time, there’s plenty of inland activities on offer.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Car parks have been busy at beaches across southern WA this year, including around Denmark. (ABC Great Southern: Rosemary Murphy)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Western Australian tourist towns experience an influx of summer visitors, some locals are worried their home towns…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":507419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17053,4740,14079,227180,204078,227183,227177,227181,44621,227179,227182,201039,50,227176,227178,84194,5331,88488,8632],"class_list":{"0":"post-507418","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-airbnb","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-beaches","11":"tag-busselton-jetty","12":"tag-caps","13":"tag-car-parks","14":"tag-crowded","15":"tag-dunsborough","16":"tag-full","17":"tag-great-southern","18":"tag-limits","19":"tag-locals","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-overtourism","22":"tag-south-west","23":"tag-summer-holidays","24":"tag-tourism","25":"tag-visitation","26":"tag-wa-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115873843585432863","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}