2019 was a record-breaking year for tourism in Western Australia, according to new figures released by Tourism Research Australia (TRA).
Minister for Tourism, Paul Papalia said visitor numbers and the amount spent by tourists reached all-time highs last year, with the industry valued at $11 billion for the State.
“Although these record figures have demonstrated how well Western Australia’s tourism industry has been performing in recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the industry,” Mr Papalia said.
He said the results demonstrated the underlying strength of WA’s tourism industry and gave hope for when the economy began recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that in the year ending December 2019, the number of international holiday visitors increased by 10.1 per cent to 536,400.
“These visitors, according to the International Visitor Survey, spent $870 million — an increase of 13.7 per cent,” Mr Papalia said.
“This is the highest-ever number of international holiday visitors to WA and the strongest growth rate in international holiday visitors and spend of all States and Territories,” he said.
“Overall, a total of 995,700 international visitors travelled to the State, which was an increase of 3.3 per cent on the 2018 figures.”
The Minister said the numbers and spend of interstate holiday visitors were the highest on record according to TRA’s National Visitor Survey.
“The number of interstate holiday visitors rose 21.4 per cent to 501,100 and the interstate holiday spend increased 30.4 per cent to $857 million,” Mr Papalia said.
“Western Australians also took more overnight trips within the State during this period, increasing by 11.2 per cent to 9.17 million intrastate overnight visitors.”
He said the South-West continued to be popular with Western Australian holidaymakers, with intrastate overnight visitors rising by 12.6 per cent to 2,458,800.
“The Government has moved to reduce costs for our tourism operators and there are more support measures being considered now,” Mr Papalia said.
