To provide a network of visitor information stations that visitors will seek out because of the quality, reliability and presentation of their content.

To provide a cost effective method for local businesses to promote their unique attractions, products and services.  Thus enabling visitor activity to have the maximum economic benefit to regional economies.

The Vision

Our service will eventually become an integral part of the West Australian tourism industry, communicating information about local attractions, products, services and events to visitors via this website and our network of radio stations. Hotel managers will choose to use our program as part of their  Visitor Information Channel because it gives their guests a reason to stay longer and return sooner.

For information about promoting your business on Western Tourist Radio     click here

See our story in South West Life

Company Background

Western Tourist Radio operates stations in Bunbury,  Busselton, Dunsborough, Cowaramup (near Margaret River) and Karridale (near Augusta) . The company has recently formed a joint venture with the operator of www.drivewa.com.au and www.wapass.com.au  to operate serviceses in East Perth, Rottnest Island and Swan Valley all on 87.6FM.  In addition WTR holds licences in a number of other locations including Albany, Armadale, Denmark, Fremantle, Kalgoorlie, Mt Barker, Mundaring as well as a number of sites on the Eyre Highway.  Visitors to this site can now listen to the full Busselton & Dunsborough program via the internet as well as to the story about individual businesses by clicking on the icon next to the business name and link.

Our stations provide listeners (both travellers and locals) with the information they require about things to do and the unique products and services available in the area. In so doing, we highlight aspects of each region, with information and anecdotes on the history, industry, attractions and talents of the people of the region. We believe that by featuring local people on our programs, both yarns and musical talent, that local West Australians will be attracted to listen and can be encouraged to holiday in their own backyard.   

The radio service is promoted with roadside signage, signage at tourist venues and on tourist maps and brochures as well as via this site. By allowing the service to become the mouthpiece of the local tourist industry we believe that the industry players will have a vested interest in the promotion of the service. As a result of our focus on attractions (our radio programs don't carry accommodation information, instead advising listeners where to find the local visitor information centre) hotels in the South West are now using our service as a part of  a Visitor Information Channel  on their TV systems. We will happily provide a web link to accommodation providers who promote our service in this way. The better informed visitors are about the local area, the better their experience and the longer they stay. 

Recognising the growing importance of the internet as a tourism marketing tool this site has been developed as a West Australian Visitor Information Portal (WA VIP!) as well as providing  links to all sponsors sites. Due to the work of  South West eCommerce Strategies the site is now ranking very well for a wide range of search words. Their work has been very successful resulting in steadily increasing traffic to the site as proven by our web analyser. Please email webmaster@touristradio.com.au to be given password access to this information.  We are happy to swap links with a range of other sites, for detail see our Link Policy .  Our radio programs encourage listeners to visit our site next time they email home from a internet cafe or telecentre, or to follow up on information they heard on our program from the internet at home. 

As part of our commitment to regional tourism, we are happy to swap links to regional tourism association websites at no charge. The link would appear in the WA Holiday Planner section of this site. 

Firey Productions  produce the South West programs in Bunbury. These programs, presented by Hovea Grant and yarn spinner, comedian Jon Doust, are informative and entertaining. They run for approximately one hour and  continually repeat.  All of our technical equipment is sourced from WA Manufacturars.

It is intended that, once on air, our East Perth and Rottnest stations (87.6FM) will  become a West Australian Visitor Information station, with half the program about Perth and the other half featuring stories about regional areas. The South West segment of the program  was produced in conjunction with Tourism South West. We look forward to this being the for runner to similar promotions for other regional areas.

In the future we will have the capacity to make the program more dynamic and plan to have a current events segment at half past the hour every hour.

The company was bought in February 2001, by Barry Green and wife Dale . Barry has 30 years experience as a technician in the Communications and Broadcast industry, including 13 years as a senior technician in commercial  television in Bunbury. Barry can be contacted on 9731 7006. 

Barry & Dale have owned a farm at Donnybrook since 1988.  In 2000 they became involved in the tourist industry when they restored an old cottage on the farm that now provides Farmstay accommodation (Boronia Farm Farmstay) .   In eight years since buying Western Tourist Radio, Barry has made steady progress in learning the issues in the Tourism Industry, especially from the perspective of small regional operators. He is now in a unique position to understand the industry, being the operator of a small tourist business (Boronia Farm Farmstay), Chairman of the Tourism Committee of the Donnybrook Chamber of Commerce (which operates the Donnybrook Visitor Information Centre), co-coordinator of www.farmstaywest.com.au , committee member of the Harvest Highway and member of a number of tourist associations.