State Tourism Minister Sheila McHale has welcomed figures released by Tourism Research Australia for the 2006-07 financial year, showing international visitor numbers to WA grew by 3.7 per cent.
The full text of a Ministerial announcement is pasted below
Western Australia continues to outgrow the rest of the country in attracting international visitors, according to new figures.
Tourism Minister Sheila McHale said Tourism Research Australia data for the year ending June 2007 showed international visitor numbers to WA grew by 3.7 per cent.
Ms McHale said more than 644,000 international visitors came to WA in the past year − the highest number of international visitors to WA on record.
"WA is attracting international visitors above the national average growth figure which is fantastic news," Ms McHale said.
"International visitor spend increased 20.1 per cent to $1.47billion, while visitor nights in WA grew 10.6 per cent to 17.2 million nights − both record levels.
"These figures show international visitor spending has reached record highs, and WA's growth has been well above the national average.
"This demonstrates that our brand is attractive in the international market and that is encouraging more travelers to spend more money in our State."
Ms McHale said numbers from WA's top international market, the United Kingdom, were at an all-time high and that WA had achieved growth in most of its high-end markets above the national average.
"These results show Tourism WA's strategies are working and as a result, visitors to WA are increasing and spending more while they're here," she said.
Ms McHale said that while the results were promising, snapshots only offered a limited picture and the tourism industry faced challenges across its key markets.
"We are affected by international forces such as the growth of low-cost carriers in Asia and the strong Australian dollar," Ms McHale said.
However, the Government is aware of the issues and is tackling them head-on with the highest State funding the WA tourism industry has ever seen."
