New tourism ads to spruik regional WA

The state government is set to launch a new $3.6 million advertising campaign to entice tourists to visit regional Western Australia.

The Experience Extraordinary campaign will be targeted at audiences in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth and will promote iconic WA destinations such as Cable Beach and the Stirling Ranges.

The campaign, funded by Royalties for Regions, will run across television, cinema and print advertising and will commence this week.

Tourism Minister Liza Harvey said the campaign came at an ideal time with the state government recently signing a major $7.65 million cooperative marketing deal with national carrier Qantas.

“The new advertising is expected to generate tens of millions of dollars of economic return for the state’s economy, and help us achieve our goal of increasing the value of the state’s tourism industry from $7.5 billion in 2012 to $12 billion by 2020,” she said.

“The advertising aims to create an emotional connection with people by focusing on getting away from everyday life and reconnecting with those who matter the most, while experiencing the magic and beauty of extraordinary WA.”

WA attracted nearly 2 million interstate and international visitors in 2012-13 according to the state government, with the state’s tourism industry employing more than 89,000 people.

Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall said the new campaign would bring visitors and jobs back to regional tourism towns.

“For the first time in years we will be showing WA tourism ads in Sydney and Melbourne,” he said.

“Last financial year WA attracted 313,000 interstate holiday tourists who spent over $373 million across regional WA, but we can significantly increase this result with good marketing.”

Mr Hall said the government should commit to delivering these advertisements every year in order to ensure the state could win back interstate tourists.