The Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA (CCI) welcomes today’s commitment by the State Government to boost Western Australia’s international marketing efforts in the upcoming State Budget.
The $9 million cash injection will go a long way toward driving the State’s position as the Western Gateway to Australia.
We particularly welcome the Government’s focus on key international markets including South East Asia, the UK, Germany and the US, and its ongoing commitment to partnering with industry to strengthen its strategy.
It’s vital that the government continues to engage with industry to achieve the State’s objective of boosting both our international visitor and visitor expenditure figures which have been lagging behind the rest of the major capital cities.
In the 12 months to September 2018, international visitor expenditure in WA fell by 6.9 per cent or $166 million. This compares to South Australia where expenditure grew by 4.4 per cent over the same period.
While we appreciate the Government’s work to date to enhance WA’s tourism sector, CCI believes there are a number of steps the State Government still needs to take, including:
- Removing restrictions on skilled migration
- Creating a comprehensive strategy across the tourism, international education, trade and investment portfolios to more effectively leverage its international activities
- Rebranding the state and its key tourism destinations
- Attracting more investment across the State
- Taking a leaf out of the east coast play book on retail trading hours
CCI looks forward to continuing to work with the State Government to support a collaborative focus on economic diversity and jobs growth through tourism.
