Holidaymakers search for far horizons closer to home

West Australians are turning to their own backyard for holiday retreats, according to the latest statistics from Tourism Research Australia.

From September 2014 to 2015, West Australians took more than 18 million day trips around the State, which injected about $1.9 billion into the local economy.

Hide Away Haven owner Maggie van Santen said their biggest market was from Perth, with people trying to escape the heat and the rat race, but there had been an increase in people interested in staying closer to home.

"We do get quite a few people from regional WA," she said.

"We have had a lot people recently that have said we want to see our own country.

"I definitely think more people are staying local because of dollar value and I think more people are thinking we should discover our own State, and I think it's safer."

Tourism Minister Kim Hames said the highest growth area for intrastate visits in WA was in the holiday-leisure segment, which was up 26.5 per cent on last year for day trips and 10.7 per cent for overnight trips.

Tourism WA South West chief executive Jasmine Meagher said people were becoming increasingly interested in exploring their own State.

"This is positive news for the tourism industry, showing that locals are discovering that there are lots of amazing things to see and explore in their own backyard," she said. "Why go anywhere else when the Great Southern has so much to offer?

"From September 2014 to September 2015, the number of intrastate, overnight and day trip visitors to Australia's South West increased by 387,000."