Visitor numbers to Western Australia's wheatbelt region are on track to break new records as COVID-19 border closures entice thousands of holiday-makers to explore their own state.
The wheatbelt is best known for growing cereal crops and grazing livestock, but small towns like Mukinbudin have suddenly become a tourist destination.
With trips to Bali and other international tourism hot spots off the agenda, travellers are instead visiting the wheatbelt's natural attractions such as granite outcrops, lakes and blooming wildflowers.
Mukinbudin shire president, Gary Shadbolt, said it was providing a welcome boost to local businesses.
"I know our cafe this year has broken [trading] records a couple of times that I know of," he said.
"This year in particular the [visitor] numbers are unbelievable at this time of year … it's been all year this year.
"We could do with more accommodation."
Wilma Geraghty from the Mukinbudin service station said she had been kept busier than usual selling fuel to travellers.
"The tourist [numbers] are picking up again since the restrictions have been lifted, and this year we reckon there has been more tourists coming through in previous years," she said.
From grey nomads to mums and dads
Linda Vernon from Newtravel Tourism works across eight local governments to promote tourism and encouraged visitors to explore the wheatbelt through the 'Wheatbelt Way' self-drive trail.
"June was absolutely amazing, people only had Perth, the south west and the wheatbelt to come to, and the wheatbelt had huge visitation in that period," she said.
"Primarily in the last month or so we've seen it shift towards family groups and couples who are wanting that short weekend break and somewhere different to go."
Ms Vernon said while it was early days, visitor numbers were on track to break a record set in 2018, of 8,000 people through caravan parks in the region.
She said Mukinbudin was already experiencing a shortage of accommodation, and with the state's wildflower season only just beginning, tourist numbers were expected to continue to grow.
"It's been a steep learning curve because ultimately we're used to having only the same amount of milk and bread and some of those real key resources within our communities," Ms Vernon said.
"When you go on any holiday you want to have somewhere great to stay, some good food experiences and you want great things to see and do, as a whole we need to invest in those three areas in the wheatbelt."
Ms Vernon said aside from small economic development grants, the wheatbelt had largely missed out on government-funded tourism initiatives seen in other parts of the state.
"To date there hasn't been hasn't been a huge investment in tourism in my view in the wheatbelt, it's been driven from a local level by the local tourism groups and supported by local governments," she said.
