International visitors decline despite record tourist numbers

The number of international tourists visiting Western Australia has hit record levels, but overall international visitors to the state, including students, have declined.

The latest International Visitor Survey results for the year ending March 2019 show the number of tourists from overseas has grown by 9.3 per cent to 493,100, with spending up 14.8 per cent to $801 million.

State Tourism Minister Paul Papalia said it was highest-ever number of international holiday visitors to WA and the strongest year-on-year growth rate of all Australian states and territories.

"The latest international visitor statistics are very encouraging, especially for the holiday sector,” he said.

"This is the second quarter in a row where WA has broken holiday visitor numbers, both within the state and nationally.”

However, while holiday makers increased, overall international visitation, which includes students and those in the state for business, declined by 1.2 per cent to 949,000, and overall spend decreased by 1.7 per cent to $2.16 billion.

Tourism Council WA said a chief concern contributing to the decline was a reduction in international students.

It said the decline would result in $37million less entering the economy from visitor spending.

Tourism Council chief executive Evan Hall said international education was an important contributor to the state economy.

“Not only are international students high-spending visitors who creates jobs, they also attract friends and relatives who come to visit them while they study in WA,” he said.

“The industry calls on the state government to review migration and visa arrangements to make Perth a more competitive destination for international students.”

Mr Papalia conceded there was still work to do in attracting visitors.

"This is why we are focusing our efforts on international marketing campaigns, specifically in the target markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, the UK, Germany and the US,” he said.

The state government allocated an extra $12 million in the recent state budget for these marketing campaigns.

Shadow Tourism Minister Libby Mettam said the state government has not delivered on its promise to grow WA tourism, with the latest figures showing WA has had a 10 per cent fall in visitor expenditure since the McGowan government came to office.

“We have now seen the seventh quarter of zero to negative growth under the McGowan government,” she said.

“We have been listening to this mantra for two years and instead, we are witnessing an international tourism sector in freefall highlighted by the lowest levels of international visitor expenditure since 2012.

“Once again, WA is going against the national trend for all the wrong reasons.”

Today, Sealink Travel Group released an operations update that said it experienced softer than expected trading conditions in Perth for the second of this financial year, in line with other tourism operators.

“The company believes the trading conditions have been impacted by slower growth in inbound international tourism and a subdued overall domestic travel market due to the uncertainty surrounding the recent federal election,” it said.

Nationally, Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said Australia’s tourism industry continued to show solid growth, underpinned by record numbers of tourists from South Asia and South-East Asia.

More than 8.5 million international travellers spent a record $44.3 billion to the year ending March 2019.

“Australia remains a highly sought-after destination among international travellers, with international arrival numbers and visitor spending both at record levels,” Mr Birmingham said.