WA tourism: Has walking on a dream campaign failed? WA only State in Australia where visitor numbers dropped

WA was the only state in the nation to record a drop in total visitor numbers last financial year, prompting industry leaders to call out the Cook Government’s huge focus on one-off major sporting events. According to the Tourism WA annual report, the State had 11.7 million visitors in 2024/25, falling from 11.9 million the year prior. It means the agency failed its main key performance indicator to attract 11.9 million to Perth and the regions, also falling $1.3 billion short of its target for an $18.5 billion visitor spend. Despite the statistics, Tourism WA continued to boast the positive impact 24 “major, blockbuster and exclusive” events had on the State’s economy in the past financial year. The report singled out the likes of a premium UFC live event at RAC Arena last August, the National Basketball League’s Gather Round-styled Hoopsfest the month after and the NRL State of Origin match and Matildas friendly matches against Slovenia in June. Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall said the numbers proved the sugar hit from one-off events was not lasting. “What we really need is attractions are available 365 days a year,” he told The West Australian. “What we are really concerned about is the prospect of the destination marketing budget declining.” Shadow Tourism Minister Scott Leary said the WA Government was failing to attract wider markets, instead focusing on niche single events. “They’re funding more passion events than commercial reality. That’s all you see, and they’re small volume attendances . . . we need events that run much longer than one day.” The calls may fall on deaf ears, with the report spruiking the “significant” events that have been secured in coming months, including the Bledisloe Cup and three WWE shows next month, as well as the Perth Sail Grand Prix in January. The WA Government also provided financial support for the Italian soccer club AC Milan to play Perth Glory in a friendly in July, with Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti last month jetting to Italy in hopes to secure an official Series A game being transferred to Perth. The report also stated Time & Rone was the most successful exhibition ever at the Art Gallery of WA with almost 60,000 visitors, but did not say how many were from interstate or overseas. Premier Roger Cook — who has repeatedly defended his Government’s backing of major events as a tourism drawcard — has on a number of occasions refused to say how much was financially contributed to secure the events, insisting that the deals commercially sensitive. The State Budget has $91 million set aside for event tourism in 2025/26, with a return on investment target of $2.40 per dollar spent. Tourism WA claims in it’s annual report it reached a key performance indicator by having a $2.80 visitor spend per dollar ROI, with industry sources saying the benchmark was “way too low.” By comparison, publicly available figures show that the Victorian Government record a $9.70 per dollar spent on the two-week Australian Open tennis grand slam and 53:1 for the Melbourne Cup racing carnival. Mr Hall would not single out the events he believed the WA Government should not have backed, but said only “some” have been a “spectacular success.” “We have seen good investment from the state government in tourism, but we really need to focus on getting the results from that investment,” Mr Hall said. “Events are very expensive right now, and you really have to focus on which ones are going to get the first economic outcome for Western Australians.” The report stated events were a key focus for the agency, mainly procuring, negotiating, developing and promoting. “Events are crucial for visitor attraction, expenditure and extending length of stay,” it stated. “Events are also a major driver of media impact, largely through the broadcast of national and international events such as sporting and entertainment events like UFC and WWE. “This all contributes to the agency’s vision to for (sic) WA to be recognised as a world-class destination for events with an always on, year-round calendar, bringing large visitor numbers to the state.” The report also spruiked the Walking On A Dream marketing blitz, a five-year campaign first rolled out in 2022 that pitches WA as a premium holiday destination. It boasted the success of the spin-off Drive The Dream advertisements that featured Perth athletes Daniel Ricciardo and Adam Gilchrist to promote road trips from Perth into the outer suburbs and regions. “These campaigns continue to build the association between WA and self-drive road trips holidays by connecting and showcasing the diversity of iconic destinations and experiences on offer in WA,” the report stated. The report also stated Tourism WA ran 135 international campaigns that led to just 120,000 more tourists and 30 domestic resulting in an increase of 143,000. It also claimed 54,900 social media followers and a reach of 138.4 million across all platforms, with the likes of Ricciardo, Ghilcrist, Megan Gale and Danny Green named as either ambassadors or third party endorsements. According to the report, UK remained the largest international market with 117,800 visitors to WA in 2024/25, while China had the largest visitor spend with an average of $4415 per person. It stated cost-of-living pressures and strong growth in overseas travel meant far less West Aussies were travelling within their own state, which is counted in the visitor figures. It also stated the global market’s recovery from COVID-19 had slowed, while the interstate recover was “lagging.” Tourism Minister Reece Whitby said there were already some signs of a turn-around in the first three months of this year. “In the year ending March 2025, WA saw the highest year on year percentage growth in international visitor spend of all States/Territories in Australia, recording 28 per cent growth,” he said. He hailed other figures in the report, particularly that tourism jobs had increased above 120,000. “Our State’s tourism industry plays a key role in diversifying the WA economy, and seeing more jobs fuelled by tourism, is just another example how we’re creating local jobs for the future,” he said. “Our major events strategy is working, generating valuable tourism dollars for local businesses and jobs.” Former Tourism WA chief executive Rebecca Brown stated in the report the industry entered the new financial year in a strong position. “There has been record investment by the WA Government on WA’s blockbuster calendar of events across sports and the arts, supporting a diverse number of sporting codes and cultural immersions,” she wrote. “I have thoroughly enjoyed leading the agency during this time and I am very proud of the achievements delivered.”