The Cook Labor Government has launched a formal procurement process to secure a long-term charter coach operator for Albany and the broader Great Southern region, backed by a $1 million contribution funded through Royalties for Regions.
The funding will be paid across an 18-month milestone schedule to support the successful operator’s establishment and ongoing viability. The government requires the successful proponent to establish a regional base in Albany and deliver services covering Albany, Esperance, and surrounding communities.
What the Tender Covers
The Request for Proposal is available through Tenders WA, with a 10-week submission window. The service is intended to support three primary demand streams:
- Cruise tourism, with Albany a port call destination
- Access to regional events
- General community connectivity across the Great Southern
The government has framed the initiative as an economic diversification measure. Regional tourism already contributes meaningfully to the state economy: visitors spent $6.2 billion across WA’s regional destinations in the year to March 2026, and tourism is the state’s fifth-largest employer, with more than two in five tourism jobs based outside the metropolitan area.
What This Means for WA Operators
For agritourism operators in the Great Southern, a functioning charter coach service changes the commercial calculus on group bookings. Properties that currently cannot accommodate self-drive visitors arriving from Albany’s cruise terminal or from interstate events become viable stops on a guided itinerary if a coach operator is based locally and available for charter.
The practical steps worth taking now are straightforward. Operators should monitor the Tenders WA listing at tenders.wa.gov.au to identify which proponents submit bids. Once a shortlist or preferred operator is announced, making early contact positions your property for inclusion in any touring routes the operator develops. Coach operators building a new regional business will be actively seeking destination partners to justify vehicle utilisation.
The 18-month milestone funding structure also signals that the government is not expecting an overnight result. Operators should factor a realistic establishment timeline into their planning rather than expecting scheduled coach access to Albany before mid-to-late 2027 at the earliest.
The broader policy signal is also worth noting. The Cook Labor Government has now committed capital to fix what the tender document itself describes as “a critical gap in transport services” in the Great Southern. For operators who have long cited access as a constraint on group visitation, this is the most direct government acknowledgement of that problem to date, and a reference point for future advocacy on infrastructure gaps affecting agritourism in other WA regions.
WAAA will be monitoring this tender process and welcomes member input on how improved coach access could affect your operation. If regional transport connectivity is a constraint your business faces, the member forum is the right place to raise it so the association can build a picture of sector-wide need across WA.
