Tourism Western Australia has thanked the UK trade for supporting Australia during the bushfire crisis – but highlighted how Western Australia has been unaffected.
Nathan Harding, chairman of Tourism Western Australia’s board, said: “Support that the trade has provided to Australia has been phenomenal and I thank the trade.
“But reporting has not always been accurate, and there has been social media misinformation and inaccurate maps.
“The main areas affected are mostly in the southeastern corner of Australia.
“[Western Australia’s capital] Perth is a four-hour flight away from those bushfires, as far as London is from Moscow.
“We have not been affected by those events. Only a small percentage of the country has been affected and Western Australia has very different weather patterns.”
Harding is visiting the UK to highlight the success of Western Australia in 2019 and promote trade incentives with UK partners in 2020.
Leisure numbers from the UK rose to 133,000 in the year to the end of September, up 3.2% year-on-year, and Western Australia has a 27% market share for all visits from the UK, up from almost 25% the year before.
He said Tourism Western Australia’s international marketing budget has doubled, thanks to an additional AU$12 million (about £6 million), and so it can spend more with the UK trade partners on marketing campaigns.
Gold Medal and Travel 2 incentives will be unveiled in February, and others are being planned.
Harding said the recent rise in visitor numbers is thanks to a hotel boom in Perth and growth in air links, including a direct Heathrow-Perth service launched by Qantas in 2018.
“Perth has seen a once-in-a-hundred-years transformation with new infrastructure and thousands of new hotel rooms in the past couple of years,” he said.
“They are outstanding hotels and offer the best value in Australia.
“As the gateway to Australia, we have had a strong focus on UK visitors coming via Perth and we have had tremendous support from the industry in the UK.”
He said the development of Perth meant that it hosted the three main Australian trade events in 2019 – Australia Tourism Exchange, Corroboree and Dreamtime – so the UK trade has had more chances to experience the city and the state.
Harding also emphasised the size and diversity of Western Australia, saying: “It is one third of Australia, and it’s always summer somewhere.
“There is enormous diversity, and it is great for road trips and life-changing experiences.”
He also highlighted new holiday styles, such as Camping with Custodians, which sees tourists staying with Aboriginal communities.
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