About Our Visitor Centre

In the late 1980’s a fledgling tourism industry began in Nannup.  Darradup House (now a private residence) and Jalbarragup Homestead had a couple of cottages on their properties that they rented out for short term accommodation.  Several newcomers to town established purpose built accommodation, namely The Lodge (now Holberry House), Red Gum Hill and Nannup Bush Cabins (now Loose Goose).
Tathra Farmhouse Kitchen was also established around this time and the owners of these properties decided to form a Tourist Association, with the help of several locals.

The Shire allocated the Old Police Station, at 4 Brockman Street, to be used as the Tourist Office.  This property is next to the Caravan Park and an informal relationship was entered into, with the Volunteers to look after the bookings for the Park.  2 Brockman St (now Community House) was occupied at the time by the APB Officer Tony Pocock. His wife Prue became the unpaid caretaker of the Park and a stalwart member of the Tourist Committee. 

Over the next few years, more and more tourist accommodation was established in and around Nannup. To assist this growing industry, the Tourist Association applied for a grant from the SW Development Authority, to extend the Old Police Station premises.   The new extension was opened by Sir Donald Eckersley, on 28th November 1991. The updated building created a focus for tourism in Nannup and for several years was manned entirely by Volunteers and managed by the Tourist Association Committee. 

As the volume of work and responsibility increased, the decision was made to pay Prue for the informal managerial role she was performing. Grant money also became available to pay Volunteers on weekends.

A great deal of effort went into promoting Nannup through various events such as the  Nannup Music Festival, Daffodil Weekend, Jarrah Jerkers Jog, Rally the Valley and many other initiatives.

Staff:  The Nannup Visitor Centre now employs two full-time staff - a Manager and Assistant Manager -  and volunteers become paid casual staff at weekends.  The Shire support s the Visitor Centre by allowing the retention of any profit made on the running of the Caravan Park as the primary source of income for the Centre.  Festivals bring visitors to the Town -  the FLOWER & GARDEN FESTIVAL in August each year and the weekend ROSE FESTIVAL in November. In addition souvenir-oriented merchandise,including produce and crafts by locals, are sold in in the Visitor Centre.

The Visitor Centre now has over 50 members, mostly made up of local accommodation owners, but includes local businesses, and private citizens. A FREE online booking system is offered for accommodation, through the BookEasy system, which is Australia wide.

The NANNUP VISITOR CENTRE is proud to be an accredited member of a growing industry that is helping to keep our small country town viable.  We continue to strive for excellence in service to our Visitors, the Community and our Members.