Travellers stay home

WA Tourism authorities have called on the State Government to spend more on tourism as new figures show a 24 per cent drop in interstate visitors.

Research by Tourism Research Australia showed spending by interstate visitors in WA slumped $103 million last financial year, with the most significant drop in tourists being in visitors from Queensland and New South Wales.

Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall said if visitor numbers from the Eastern States continued to drop it could be devastating for towns that relied heavily on tourism for income such as Broome.

“We are losing Queensland and NSW visitors to places like Melbourne which have invested in marketing, events, convention centres and hotels,” he said.

“The WA government should invest in tourism the same way they are investing in mining.

“We need to invest as much in our tourism brands, such as the Kimberley and Margaret River, as we do in infrastructure to support mining.” But Australia’s North West chairman Chris Ellison said Broome’s tourism industry was holding its own compared to other regions during difficult times.

Mr Ellison said they continued to target the Eastern States with their marketing and campaigns had performed well, considering the circumstances.

He said while tourism figures were down, he believed Broome had held up better than other parts of the State.

Mr Ellison said a high Australian dollar would prove difficult for the nation’s tourism.