Mark Seaward says Bunbury should be seen as a destination

Bunbury Geographe Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Mark Seaward says destination marketing will be key as the area continues to reposition itself in 2019.

Mr Seaward said concerns about how traffic flow into the city might be affected by the Bunbury Outer Ring Road needed to be addressed by giving people a reason to stop in Bunbury.

“We’re taking a lead role within the business community around making sure that we get it right,” he said.

“We need to get it right for the people living near the road, for the people who want to use the road, and we need to get it right for Bunbury.”

He said the recently completed upgrades to the Dolphin Discovery Centre, along with work being done on the waterfront, were an important part of that.

“When people decide whether to go to Bunbury or Monkey Mia to see dolphins it should be a no-brainer,” he said.

“Then people see what has been done on the waterfront and with the new sculpture, it will turn heads because the photography you are going to get is going to be unreal.”

He said he wanted to encourage people to become tourists in their own town.

“What I really like about the development happening in Bunbury is that it’s not just all about functional stuff,” he said.

“I wonder how many people haven’t taken the time to do the Walk-It Bunbury Tour — there is spectacular art living behind some of our buildings.

“People see a couple of paintings in Melbourne laneways and say ‘oh wow’, but have they looked through the streets of Bunbury.”