❓ Tourism—Visitors 484. Mr Scott Leary to the Minister for Tourism: I refer to Tourism WA's annual report that shows visitor numbers fell by 200,000 last year and the agency failed its main key performa
AnsweredQoN 484Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Tourism—Visitors
484. Mr Scott Leary to
the Minister for Tourism:
I refer to Tourism
WA's annual report that shows visitor numbers fell by 200,000 last year and the
agency failed its main key performance indicator for visitor targets and
spending.
(1) Why is WA the only state in the country going
backwards on visitor numbers while the rest of Australia is growing?
(2) Where is the long-term
statewide tourism strategy that promotes our unique Western Australian regional and metropolitan tourism experiences rather than just one-off sugar hits?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition! This is your
question, so if you want to ask a supplementary, I would let the minister
respond.
484. Mr Scott Leary to
the Minister for Tourism:
I refer to Tourism
WA's annual report that shows visitor numbers fell by 200,000 last year and the
agency failed its main key performance indicator for visitor targets and
spending.
(1) Why is WA the only state in the country going
backwards on visitor numbers while the rest of Australia is growing?
(2) Where is the long-term
statewide tourism strategy that promotes our unique Western Australian regional and metropolitan tourism experiences rather than just one-off sugar hits?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition! This is your
question, so if you want to ask a supplementary, I would let the minister
respond.
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member
for Albany and the Speaker.
(1)–(2) I very much wanted to respond to
this question because I think we need to see what is going on here with tourism
in Western Australia. That annual report dealt—
Several members
interjected.
Mr Reece Whitby: Mr Speaker, it is very difficult for
me to respond to the question.
Mr Shane Love interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the National Party. I am
calling you for the first time.
Mr Reece Whitby: If you want to be quiet, I am happy
to deliver it to you, mate.
There were seven
KPIs in the annual report. We met or exceeded five of them. There were two
issues—
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition. Carry on,
minister.
Mr Reece Whitby: The fact is, this annual report deals
with lagging indicators. The data in it relates to the calendar year of 2024.
It is a 2024–25 annual report, but the information in it is collated from
a calendar year. Those visitation and spending figures come in—
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Opposition, Leader of the National Party
and Leader of the Liberal Party, please do not interject.
Mr Reece Whitby: I can tell members that in the 12
months ending in 2025, there has been a turnaround in the numbers. It is
unfortunate that that was not part of the latest annual report, but I am happy
to update the chamber on what those numbers show. Western Australia recorded a
28% year-on-year growth in international visitor spend in the 12 months ending
March 2025. This is the highest of any jurisdiction in the country. It is ahead
of the national average of 15%. That is international visitor spend. In Western
Australia, there was a 28% year-on-year growth; for the rest of the country, it
was 15%. It is the highest in the nation, members.
Let us go to
interstate visitation. Interstate visitation in Western Australia increased 12%
year on year, ahead of the national average of just 3%. Again, Western
Australia has been leading the nation in the last 12 months to March 2025 in
terms of international visitor spend and interstate visitation.
I will give members
another figure. Perth's hotel occupancy is leading the nation—
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Liberal Party.
Mr Reece Whitby: It is 80%, members. It exceeds
Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and every other city in the country.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Liberal Party.
Mr Reece Whitby: Perth accommodation—
The Speaker: Hang on, minister.
Ms Rita Saffioti interjected.
The Speaker: Minister. Treasurer. Leader of the
Liberal Party, I am calling you for the third time.
Mr Reece Whitby: The reason for a lot of that
occupancy is the events that we have been hosting in Perth this year in the
quiet shoulder periods. The occupancy rates are much higher than they have been
previously because this government is investing in tourism. We have boosted
funding for destination marketing and aviation recovery as part of the
Reconnect WA strategy coming out of the COVID pandemic. We have allowed Tourism
Western Australia to positively position WA as a destination of choice in key
markets.
I will just quote
Evan Hall from the Tourism Council of Western Australia. He tells me that he
had some issues with some of the coverage this morning and has gone to the
publisher to get some corrections. That is interesting to note. I will quote what he said today in terms of the
events happening in Western Australia that this state is promoting. He said,
according to my notes:
Events are fantastic about bringing
visitors into Western Australia.
The journalist asked:
Are they working? He replied, according to my notes:
Absolutely. Events that bring in
visitors outside of WA, give a compelling reason to travel to this state now, are
absolutely critical in bringing in visitors and those visitors spend a lot of
money in the state, and they're also going out and travelling throughout
Western Australia.
…
There has been good state government
investment in the budget.
…
We need things along the river, new
attractions, new activities.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Thanks, minister. If you could conclude
your comments, please.
Mr Reece Whitby: Okay. Once again, I could go on.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition.
Mr Reece Whitby: I could go on but, members, the
latest more-up-to-date figures show that Western Australia is having a surge of
visitation, both internationally and interstate. That is something we will
continue to build on.
The Speaker: That concludes question time.
for Albany and the Speaker.
(1)–(2) I very much wanted to respond to
this question because I think we need to see what is going on here with tourism
in Western Australia. That annual report dealt—
Several members
interjected.
Mr Reece Whitby: Mr Speaker, it is very difficult for
me to respond to the question.
Mr Shane Love interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the National Party. I am
calling you for the first time.
Mr Reece Whitby: If you want to be quiet, I am happy
to deliver it to you, mate.
There were seven
KPIs in the annual report. We met or exceeded five of them. There were two
issues—
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition. Carry on,
minister.
Mr Reece Whitby: The fact is, this annual report deals
with lagging indicators. The data in it relates to the calendar year of 2024.
It is a 2024–25 annual report, but the information in it is collated from
a calendar year. Those visitation and spending figures come in—
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Opposition, Leader of the National Party
and Leader of the Liberal Party, please do not interject.
Mr Reece Whitby: I can tell members that in the 12
months ending in 2025, there has been a turnaround in the numbers. It is
unfortunate that that was not part of the latest annual report, but I am happy
to update the chamber on what those numbers show. Western Australia recorded a
28% year-on-year growth in international visitor spend in the 12 months ending
March 2025. This is the highest of any jurisdiction in the country. It is ahead
of the national average of 15%. That is international visitor spend. In Western
Australia, there was a 28% year-on-year growth; for the rest of the country, it
was 15%. It is the highest in the nation, members.
Let us go to
interstate visitation. Interstate visitation in Western Australia increased 12%
year on year, ahead of the national average of just 3%. Again, Western
Australia has been leading the nation in the last 12 months to March 2025 in
terms of international visitor spend and interstate visitation.
I will give members
another figure. Perth's hotel occupancy is leading the nation—
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Liberal Party.
Mr Reece Whitby: It is 80%, members. It exceeds
Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and every other city in the country.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Liberal Party.
Mr Reece Whitby: Perth accommodation—
The Speaker: Hang on, minister.
Ms Rita Saffioti interjected.
The Speaker: Minister. Treasurer. Leader of the
Liberal Party, I am calling you for the third time.
Mr Reece Whitby: The reason for a lot of that
occupancy is the events that we have been hosting in Perth this year in the
quiet shoulder periods. The occupancy rates are much higher than they have been
previously because this government is investing in tourism. We have boosted
funding for destination marketing and aviation recovery as part of the
Reconnect WA strategy coming out of the COVID pandemic. We have allowed Tourism
Western Australia to positively position WA as a destination of choice in key
markets.
I will just quote
Evan Hall from the Tourism Council of Western Australia. He tells me that he
had some issues with some of the coverage this morning and has gone to the
publisher to get some corrections. That is interesting to note. I will quote what he said today in terms of the
events happening in Western Australia that this state is promoting. He said,
according to my notes:
Events are fantastic about bringing
visitors into Western Australia.
The journalist asked:
Are they working? He replied, according to my notes:
Absolutely. Events that bring in
visitors outside of WA, give a compelling reason to travel to this state now, are
absolutely critical in bringing in visitors and those visitors spend a lot of
money in the state, and they're also going out and travelling throughout
Western Australia.
…
There has been good state government
investment in the budget.
…
We need things along the river, new
attractions, new activities.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Thanks, minister. If you could conclude
your comments, please.
Mr Reece Whitby: Okay. Once again, I could go on.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition.
Mr Reece Whitby: I could go on but, members, the
latest more-up-to-date figures show that Western Australia is having a surge of
visitation, both internationally and interstate. That is something we will
continue to build on.
The Speaker: That concludes question time.
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