Western Australia is becoming an increasingly popular destinations for international tourists, with WA the only state to record an increase in visitor numbers for the past year.
Western Australia is becoming an increasingly popular destinations for international tourists, with WA the only state to record an increase in visitor numbers for the past year.
International tourists are also spending more per capita and staying longer in WA than in any other state, according to the latest International Visitor Survey by Tourism Research Australia.
About 669,000 international visitors came to WA in the year to March 2008, up 5.1 per cent on the same period last year, with roughly half of those coming for a holiday.
The average expenditure per visitor increased 11 per cent to $2,490, with the average length of stay up almost 4 per cent to 27 nights.
The strong results have elevated WA to capturing 12.8 per cent of the international tourism market.
The UK remains the top market for international visitors to WA, even though visitor numbers were down 2.3 per cent to 166,000.
Malaysia was the biggest growth market, with visitor numbers increasing by 20 per cent on last year.
Visitor numbers from New Zealand and Singapore also recorded strong growth, the later a possible result of the increased capacity between Perth and Singapore after the introduction of low-cost carrier Tiger Airways.
Nationally, international visitor numbers have stagnated, recording a modest 1 per cent increase, with all states - except WA - recording a drop in visitor numbers.
Tourism Council of WA chief executive Graham Moss said it was pleasing to see the state leading national growth in international tourism, with the added capacity provided by Tiger Airways and other low-coast Asian carriers having a positive impact.
"It's a result of the investment that the WA government, through Tourism WA, has made in the marketing and promotion of WA as a major international tourism destination," he said.
But the tourism industry is bracing for the possible impact of rising fuel prices and costs, with Qantas already making several changes to its international flight schedules in response to rising fuel prices.
The changes will predominantly affect services between the east coast and South-East Asia and Japan.
The Perth-Denpasar and the Perth-Jakarta routes will experience an increase in capacity with the larger A320 Jetstar aircraft replacing the Qantas B737-800 aircraft on those services.
