State’s $1.5m Japan push

The State Government will spend $1.5 million marketing Western Australia to the Japanese in a bid to increase tourist numbers.

Premier Geoff Gallop, who recently joined a trade mission to Japan and met with representatives from the Japanese tourism industry, said Japan was a key target market for Tourism WA and the tourism industry.

“This funding boost is a 700 per cent increase on previous years and is part of the recent State Government injection of an extra $9.4 million in tourism marketing funds,” he said.

More than 52,400 Japanese tourists visited WA last year, the second largest source of international visitors behind the UK.

This figure represents a 7 per cent increase on the previous year in contrast with largely unchanged visitor numbers to other states.

Dr Gallop said there was significant potential to increase the number of Japanese tourists well above last year’s total by increasing promotion and creating greater air access

“WA now has three direct Qantas flights a week from Perth to Tokyo and 19 a week via Singapore from western Japan with Singapore Airlines,” he said.

“These regions are our focus, especially now that Qantas is using the A330 airbus on its route, giving 30 per cent more seat capacity.”

Tourism WA trade marketing executive director Rick Thomas reiterated Dr Gallop’s ‘two-pronged’ approach and said concentrating on the cities of Tokyo and Osaka, and the frequency of flights from these areas to Perth, was the key to lifting inbound tourist numbers.

Mr Thomas said the aim was to work closely with Qantas to support its three direct flights a week from Tokyo’s Narita International Airport to Perth.

“And with the 767s being replaced with the A330 airbus there has been a 30 per cent increase in seats; it is important to make sure these seats are filled,” Mr Thomas said.

“We will work within the distribution channels [travel agents etc] to make sure we are in the marketplace and these seats are filled.”

While the ultimate aim was to increase the number of direct flight from Tokyo to Perth, to do this, Mr Thomas said, seats had to be filled consistently to prove that extra flights were needed.

Another problem is the lack of landing and take-off “slots” available at Tokyo. 

To complement the three weekly flights by Qantas, Tourism WA will focus on Osaka in the west of Japan and the number of Singapore Airlines flights from the Kansai International Airport to Perth.

“We will try to feed into their Singapore-to-Perth services, direct from Kansai to Perth, of which there are 19 flights a week,” Mr Thomas said.

The Government’s $1.5 million marketing effort will include:

• development of a Japanese-language consumer website by the end of 2005, so that information on WA is easily available to people planning a holiday in Australia;

• educational tours of WA for travel agents and Japanese journalists so they can speak with experience to their clients and readers;

• promotion of WA via increased editorial coverage in popular magazines, newspapers and television; and

• advertising with trade partners, including special offers from airlines and tour operators designed to convert awareness of WA into actual bookings.

Once in Perth, Mr Thomas said Japanese tourists primarily wanted a city-based experience but added that there had been an increase in demand to venture outside of Perth.