Interview: Tourism Western Australia sees strong rebound of travelers from China, says official

by Martina Fuchs

PERTH, Australia, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Tourism Western Australia said it saw a strong recovery in the number of visitors from China thanks to new initiatives and Chinese airlines starting to offer direct flights to the state, its acting Managing Director Steph Underwood told Xinhua.

"We couldn't be happier. We just had our data release for the year ending June 2024 and we've reached record highs. We had a visitor spend of 18.3 billion Australian dollars (12.31 billion U.S. dollars). We've also seen a great recovery of our international visitation. It's not yet at pre-COVID levels, but certainly growing," Underwood said.

"And we couldn't be happier that our Chinese market is back stronger than ever. This is the first time since COVID that China has re-reached the place of our top visitor spend. We're really, really happy," Underwood said on the sideline of the 24th World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit taking place in Perth, Western Australia, on Oct. 8-10.

Tourism Western Australia is the state government agency responsible for promoting the state as a holiday and business event destination.

It focuses on marketing through campaigns, developing, attracting and promoting major sporting, arts, cultural and business events, and works with the government and tourism industry to improve access, accommodation and tourism experiences for visitors.

"We work very closely with our industry to make sure that they're ready to welcome Chinese visitors and visitors from across Asia. We have a number of programs in place to really promote and elevate our tourism experiences," Underwood said.

NEW AIR CONNECTIONS

Underwood emphasized that aviation connections are also critical. "We really rely on the air access for visitors into Western Australia, and our international aviation capacity is at 125 percent of pre-COVID levels, we're really excited."

"We have China Southern Airlines launching in November for the service, and then we'll also have a China Eastern Airlines seasonal service for the Chinese New Year. We're really anticipating further growth in the Chinese market with this new access."

Western Australia's tourism industry is an important part of the state's economy. It supports nearly 30,000 tourism businesses, generates 100,900 jobs and contributed 11 billion Australian dollars (7.4 billion dollars) in visitor spend in 2019, according to Tourism Western Australia's website.

Asked about new initiatives and campaigns catering to Chinese visitors, Underwood added, "We've launched our 'walking on a dream' brand in China earlier this year. We've been really pleased with the reception. It's been seen by millions of Chinese around with the 3D whale shark billboards."

"We'll also launch our new 'drive to dream' campaign with Australian motorsports racing driver Daniel Ricciardo to showcase our incredible region."

Underwood also said that hosting business events is a key focus going forward. "We're really pleased to partner with business conferences like the WTTC. Next week, we have the Australian tourism operators event G'day Australia, and then in 2025 the airlines and airports conference Routes Asia."