WA's visitor economy grows

Hesperian, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

New figures released by Tourism Research Australia show WA's tourism recovery has led to a spending increase of $200 million compared to YE December 2023, which is $4.4 billion or 32 per cent ahead of the 2019 pre-pandemic figure. International visitors surpassed the 2019 value for the first time, reaching $2.5 billion or three per cent greater than the pre-pandemic value.

Results have been fuelled by a boost in spend by visitors from China, with the country reclaiming its pre-pandemic position as the number one market for Western Australia when ranked by visitor spend. Results for WA also show it was the top performing state in Australia in terms of total visitor spend versus 2019, with growth of 32 per cent ahead of the total national growth of 25 per cent, and the top performing state in terms of overnight visitors compared to 2019.

The news comes amid continuing labour market pressures for the sector and can be expected to further drive demand for workers across the hospitality, travel, and tourism industries. Tourism Research Australia's International and National Visitor Survey results are the official sources of visitor statistics for Australia, and can be viewed here. 

​Minister Carey's full media statement may be accessed here.