The annual funding round supports smaller and developing regional events to help attract new visitors to WA's five tourism regions and stimulate local economies.
This year's RES round will fund 10 new events and will include $250,000 to deliver Regional Aboriginal Events, including the agritourism event Taste of the Kimberley, showcasing the produce and landscapes of the Kimberley region; and the RAES event Iwarra Wilungga - Spring by the Sea, which is a celebration of Aboriginal culture in the Mid-West.
Other events include the Great Southern Stage Run, a three-day race following the wild and rugged Bibbulman Track; and the Northam Heritage and Multicultural Festival in the Wheatbelt. 

View the full list of recipients

The state government has announced a $3.9 million package to fund tourism and hospitality workforce initiatives over the next two years.

The funding will support a series of job-ready skills training courses with StudyPerth for international students and initiatives targeting working holiday makers to leverage the returning pool of workers in these markets.

Tourism and hospitality will be promoted as a rewarding career through activity such as the Chef Ambassador in-school hospitality demonstration program delivered by Hospitality Group Training, and an annual program of in-school tourism career information sessions will also support longer-term initiatives aimed at encouraging young people to consider careers in tourism and hospitality and creating a sustainable pipeline of local skilled workers.
Read the media release here

In addition, a new hospitality and tourism recruitment campaign, called Discover the Other Side, will launch in coming weeks. The campaign will aim to help attract hospitality and tourism workers from interstate and New Zealand to work and live in WA.
More information about: Discover the Other Side

The formal ‘Industry Summary’ document has been guided by the sector’s Industry Reference Committee, comprising stakeholders from various industry organisations such as Restaurant Catering Australia, the Caravan Industry Association, AHA, training bodies, tourism groups and the Australian Travel Careers Council.

The draft summary gives an overview of the interconnected nature of travel, tourism and hospitality, as well as the crippling effect of COVID-19 and the expected industry recovery supported by the Government’s THRIVE 2030 strategy targeting $230 billion in visitor spending.

All the relevant qualifications have been reviewed and the only new proposed qualification is a Certificate IV in Travel qualification to be reviewed 2023-24 .

​To download a copy of the draft Tourism, Travel and Hospitality IRC Industry Summary, please Click Here

To provide feedback on the document: Click Here  (closes 5.00pm, Friday 29 July 2022)

 

• Thousands of international and domestic tourists are expected to witness the natural phenomenon when the sun, moon and earth align at 11.27am on April 20, 2023.
•  The State Government has committed $19.3 million for Total Solar Eclipse preparation in addition to mid-year review funding, which brings the total spend to more than $21 million 
• The funding is for Beach, road and telecommunications upgrades for Exmouth region

 
Exmouth has been identified as the best land-based place in the world to view the eclipse, with the Exmouth Peninsula set to experience full darkness.
 
Other locations around WA will see a partial solar eclipse, including Perth witnessing a 70 per cent eclipse, Geraldton about 80 per cent, Carnarvon 95 per cent, Karratha 97 per cent and Coral Bay 99 per cent.
 
While the actual eclipse is relatively short, Tourism WA expects visitors to stay in the region for around five days.
 
Thousands of tourists are expected to visit Ningaloo Coastal Reserve, Ningaloo Marine Park, Montebello Marine Park, Pilbara Inshore Islands, Cape Range National Park, Barrow Island Marine Management Area and the Giralia Station.
 
Read the full media statement here

The latest round of the Regional and Remote Festivals Fund has provided a financial boost to eight regional organisations to deliver arts and cultural activities at regional festivals in Western Australia.
The Regional and Remote Festivals Fund is part of the Regional Arts and Cultural Investment Program (RACIP). It is open to groups, organisations or individual artists, WA regional local government authorities and Aboriginal communities to support the costs associated with delivering arts activity that is part of a festival in regional Western Australia. 
Initiatives receiving grants through the program are:

1. Esperance Community Arts for the Kaddatji Nyungar Boodja Community Sculpture project which will be displayed at the Esperance Wildflower Festival in September 2021;
2. City of Greater Geraldton for the artistic program behind the Big Sky Festival 2021;
3. Shire of Yalgoo’s Open Air Sculpture Gallery, part of the Emu Festival 2021;
4. Shire of Mount Magnet for SciArt & Astro-Photography Activities, drawing on local Indigenous artists and culminating in an Astro-Photography Exhibition;
5. York Arts and Events for presentation of the 7th annual York Festival;
6. Shire of Merredin for War Stories Illumination Projections, part of the inaugural Memorial Festival;
7. Big hART Inc for Songs for Peace 2021, a month-long series of events featuring song writing workshops, community feasting and intimate acoustic performances; and
8. Annette Nykiel for the We Must Get Together Sometime exhibition and related events.

 
Media statement 
More information

As part of the WA Recovery Plan, the McGowan Government has announced a world-class hospitality and tourism training centre will be built at South Metropolitan TAFE's Mandurah campus.
The $9.17 million centre will replace an ageing home economics-style room to enable training of apprentice chefs in the Peel region. The centre will also focus on engaging local secondary students, young people and the long-term unemployed in vocational education and training.
The centre is set to improve the Peel region's capacity to train job-ready, highly skilled chefs, as well as front of house staff, event coordinators and tourism workers.
Read the full ministerial media statement.

In a first for Australia, which has never hosted a senior FIFA tournament, the 2023 women's edition of the FIFA World Cup will bring the world’s best players to our shores.

While the final match schedule is still to be determined, the Australia-New Zealand bid proposed the use of 13 stadiums across 12 cities - with Perth's rectangular stadium set to host a number of matches. The recently announced $32.5 million State Football Centre will be completed in time for the tournament, providing world-class facilities for the world's best players.

Tourism Minister Paul Papalia said the media exposure of a World Cup was “invaluable”, with last year’s tournament in France having broadcasted to an estimated one billion people.
“Securing a global spectacle of this kind demonstrates Perth and Western Australia’s ongoing development as vibrant, desirable travel destinations. The benefits from hosting the tournament will flow through to our tourism and hospitality industries and the wider economy, helping to create jobs.” Mr Papalia said. Media statement.

Premier Mark McGowan has announced Phase 4 of WA's COVID-19 recovery will begin on Saturday, June 27. Major sporting and entertainment venues can now open, operating at 50 per cent capacity, and gyms will be able to operate unstaffed. Hospitality venues will not have to maintain a guest register and patrons will not have to be seated. Gathering limits will be determined by the 2sqm rule, which will also apply to staff at venues that hold more than 500 patrons. Phase 5, which will involve the removal of the 2sqm rule, is likely to come into effect on July 18. Phase 6 will see borders reopen, but no date has been announced.
Media statement.