Tourism Minister Sheila McHale has welcomed the findings of Tourism Australia's National Visitor Survey, which showed more than 1.2 million tourists visited WA from other states in the past year.
The full text of an announcement from the Minister's office is pasted below
More than 1.2 million tourists visited Western Australia from other States in the past year.
WA is outperforming the rest of the nation in increasing domestic tourism.
Tourism Minister Sheila McHale today welcomed new figures revealing a 21 per cent increase in interstate visitor arrivals to the year ending September 30 and a seven per cent in intrastate holidays.
Ms McHale said according to the figures, released by Tourism Australia as part of the National Visitor Survey, annual interstate visitors to WA topped 1.2 million for the first time ever, showing WA was outperforming the rest of the nation.
"Quarterly shifts can be volatile, but it is pleasing that a four-year trend is showing domestic tourism is improving after a substantial decline last year," she said.
"These visitors spent more than $3 billion in WA - two per cent more than the previous year."
The Minister said domestic tourism numbers had been of concern for some time as Australians continued to stockpile leave and spend more money on household debt and electronic appliances.
She said Tourism WA would start an interstate marketing campaign in February next year to continue the momentum, supported by a training program aimed at increasing awareness of the State among travel agents.
"International visitors to WA are fairly static at 614,000 for the past year - but again, we have attracted the big spenders with an extra eight per cent injected into the economy to have the highest international spend on record at $1.3 billion," Ms McHale said.
"Summer time in WA is just about the perfect holiday destination - I would encourage all families to spend some time together with a holiday at home."
