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| Currently, on a list of international visitor nights spent per tourism region, Perth sits in fifth place with 719,000. The Gold Coast is fourth with 755,000 |
A leading WA tourism body has called on a working plan for the rail link between Perth and the airport and the development of bigger and better event venues to be among the state government's priorities.
Cutting government red tape currently hampering the development of tourism initiatives and improved customer service standards are also among the strategies that the Tourism Council WA believe can see Perth overtake the Gold Coast as the No. 4 most popular destination in Australia for international visitors.
The new plan set out by Tourism Council WA is expected to create 11,000 new jobs and add $2.6 billion to the local economy from extra visitor spending.
Tourism Council CEO Mr Hall said that most of the attractions and accommodation needed for the Destination Perth strategy to be realised are already being planned or are already underway.
"But we must work together on the events, services and marketing to convert these new assets to bums on seats and guests in beds," he said.
"New destinations such as the museum, stadium and Elizabeth Quay will transform Perth as a tourism destination.
"Under the Destination Perth strategy, our evolving city will create new jobs delivering services to new visitors."
The strategy was delivered to media and industry members by Mr Hall on Monday as a vision to be considered by government, industry and the community.
It was developed in alignment to the state government's Strategy for Tourism in WA that has a target of doubling the value of tourism expenditure from $6 billion in 2010 to $12 billion by 2020.
Part of the strategy includes 10 major developments that have been identified as targets that if addressed will see Perth rise closer to the top of favoured destinations for international, interstate and intrastate visitors.
Currently, on a list of international visitor nights spent in 2012 per tourism region, Perth sits in fifth place with 719,000. The Gold Coast is fourth with 755,000.
And in a similar list that shows domestic overnight visitors in 2012, Perth is in seventh place with 2,808,000, behind both the North Coast and South Coast of NSW. Again, the Gold Coast is fourth behind Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Mr Hall insists that the rail link between Perth and the airport needs to happen sooner rather than later and hopes it is not still an issue for debate by the time the next state election comes around.
He also believes that there is a renewed interest from private investors in Perth that could help make the wish list more achievable.
"There is certainly an appetite for private investment in the city; we are seeing people wanting to build hotels. We haven't seen that for many, many years," he said.
"That's what happens when you get the policy right, with government and with the private sector. We are seeing people wanting to start up new tourism operations and certainly for things like the cable cart, these would certainly be private operations, funded by the tourism industry, not by government.
"What we are doing is leveraging off government investment in things like Elizabeth Quay and the stadium and the museum and we can turn that into jobs and revenue and improved lifestyle for the people of Perth."
Top 10 developments:
- Perth Airport upgrade and rail link to the CBD;
- 1900 additional hotel rooms and a broader range of budget, business and luxury hotels.
- 4 new event venues and expansion of the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre to 30,000m2 (from 16,700m2).
- Fast track approvals for innovative new experiences, tours and adventure activities.
- New flagship attractions including the Elizabeth Quay to Kings Park Cable Car and an Indigenous Cultural Centre.
- Managing and marketing new attractions to attract new visitors to Perth (eg selling 10,000 seats to Victorian visitors for AFL games at the new stadium).
- A new iconic annual home grown event to showcase Perth to the world.
- Sustained investment in public beaches, parks, gardens, heritage and cultural assets.
- Investment to secure future business and tourism events timed to fill the new hotels and attractions as they open doors.
- Enhanced customer service culture and liberalisation of liquor and retail trading regulations.
By Brad Elborough -
Source: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/top-10-tourism-strategy-could-see-perth-overtake-gold-coast-20140325-35f83.html#ixzz2x7627uQ5
