WESTERN Australia’s peak tourism body has called on the state government to commit $27 million annually to tourism marketing to assist the industry.
In releasing the Tourism 4 Tomorrow campaign this week, Tourism Council chief executive Evan Hall said while there was a need for investment in WA’s infrastructure and events, the first step in improving the languishing tourism sector should be a focus on marketing the state.
According to Mr Hall, an annual marketing budget of $27 million would align WA with other states on a proportional spend basis.
That figure breaks down to: $16 million in pure advertising and marketing campaigns targeting consumers in key markets on the east coast; $5 million to the five regional tourism organisations in WA to focus on developing package tour offers; $5 million to the Perth Convention Bureau to continue securing events; and $1 million for training within the industry.
“Most people decide to have a holiday and then decide where to go. In November, when people are deciding where to go for the summer holiday, people are being bombarded by messages from Queensland and Victoria and wherever else, and WA is nowhere to be seen,” Mr Hall said.
Research obtained by the council has showed an overall drop in the number of interstate visitors to WA from 1,129,000 people in the year ending September 2010 to 1,042,000 in the year ending September 2011.
A closer look at those statistics shows business travel increased by 11 per cent over that timeframe but travel by ‘friends and relatives’ decreased by 11 per cent, while leisure travel numbers fell 30 per cent.
Mr Hall said leisure tourists were the desired group because their spend was much higher than friends and relatives, who typically stayed with those they are visiting.
Consistency in branding is what Mr Hall is looking for when it comes to WA’s marketing strategy; he said Victoria and New Zealand provided good lessons for continuity in branding with their ‘You’ll love every piece of Victoria’ and ‘New Zealand 100% Pure’ campaigns.
“They work so effectively because they have been running with the brand for such a long time,” he said.
“For 20 years, Victoria has been saying the same thing, so every time you say it you are repeating the message and it is simply more effective. They get huge bang for their buck.
Mr Hall said WA’s brand, ‘Experience Extraordinary’ was good because it encapsulated what the state had to offer, but was “useless if no-one knows about it”.
“You have to advertise the brand and then be consistent with your branding year in, year out,” he said.
Mr Hall said tourists brought $8.1 billion to the state’s economy, contributing $5.9 billion to gross state product and creating more than 73,300 jobs.
“We are calling on the state government to recognise the importance of tourism in the WA economy, starting with a $27 million injection in the next state budget,” he said.