March 21, 2018 Two-year tourism plan a spectacular disappointment The McGowan Government’s two-year WA tourism plan released today is all plan and no action, according to Shadow Tourism Minister Libby Mettam. “This smacks of a plan cobbled together at the last minute in response to the freefall in tourist numbers that has happened since the McGowan Government came into office,” Ms Mettam said. “Every other State in Australia is seeing their tourism numbers increasing and unless Mark McGowan follows their lead and recommits to a full time CEO and Marketing Officer, tourism in WA will not get the focus or expertise it needs to rebound from this slump. “I was at the launch of the plan today and I heard a lot of concern from tourism stakeholders about the McGowan Government’s decision to make the position of CEO for Tourism WA redundant.” Ms Mettam said she was expecting the plan to include significant details of dedicated initiatives aimed at reversing the 8 per cent drop in international visitors that happened last year. “I heard a lot of high-level talk about dedicated campaigns and events but no details and no commitment to funding,” Ms Mettam said. “I also heard about the Chelsea Match and Bledisloe Cup games at the Optus Stadium, direct flights between Perth and London, the improved supply of hotel accommodation and ‘the remarkable transformation of Perth’ – all of which is a result of the initiatives of the former government. “We have all of the fundamentals but we don’t have a Government with a cohesive plan to market our State. “Regional WA has been relegated to a bit part in the tourism picture, which is concerning given international tourism figures for our most popular region, Margaret River, fell by 15 per cent – almost double the rate of the decline for the rest of the State. “The McGowan Government says it will promote Perth as the gateway to the rest of Australia, it should be the gateway to regional WA given the great lure of our landscape to the Malaysian, Singaporean and Chinese visitors in particular. “The plan also had no mention of how the Government planned to recover from the 12 per cent decline in student visas as a result of its decision to remove WA from the regional migration scheme.” Media Contact |
