Australian Tourism Exchange 2024
Sixty-five WA operators attended Australia’s largest annual tourism trade event, ATE24, held in Melbourne this week. Alongside the event, seven ATE trade and media familiarisations were conducted across the state, offering a fantastic opportunity to showcase ‘WA the Dream State’ to visitors from near and far. Thirty delegates participated, and the itineraries encompassed a range of Western Australia’s most popular destinations from all five tourism regions. Tourism WA also highlighted road trips at a State Tourism Organisation showcase, attended by other state tourism bodies, Tourism Australia and close to 100 media outlets from around the world. This was followed by one-on-one meetings with around 30 writers and editors from global publications. Read more here.

Street artist RONE set to captivate WA 
Perth will soon welcome an immersive art exhibition by acclaimed street artist RONE at The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA). Taking place from 1 July to 30 September, RONE will bring the full installation of TIME • RONE to WA, creating brand-new spaces specifically for the Western Australian exhibition and two new mural works exclusive to Perth. The sensory art exhibition, offering a beautiful and emotive snapshot into mid-century Australia, will take over 12 rooms at AGWA, across both floors in the historic Centenary Galleries Building. This exhibition is a global exclusive for Perth and will be RONE’s only showcase in 2024, expected to attract over 100,000 patrons to AGWA. Read more here. 

Image credit: © RONE 2024, supplied from AGWA

SuperSprint racing fever revs up Perth
Last weekend, thousands of motorsport enthusiasts flocked to CARCO Raceway in Perth for a high-octane weekend of racing, at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint. The Repco Supercars Championship event is expected to have attracted around 30,000 attendees from across Western Australia and out-of-state. The SuperSprint format showcased high-performance supercars in a 55-lap race on both Saturday and Sunday, and the event was proudly supported by Tourism WA. Read more here. 

Above image credit: Supercars Championships

THRIVE 2030 consultation sessions
Austrade is hosting consultation sessions across Australia to hear from stakeholders on THRIVE 2030, Australia’s national strategy for visitor economy recovery and return to sustainable growth. The action plan for the first phase of the strategy (Recovery 2022-2024) is in its final year, and Austrade is now working towards the Consolidation Phase (2025-2027). The sessions, facilitated by the Hon Martin Ferguson AM, former Federal Tourism Minister, will focus on how the THRIVE 2030 plan has impacted businesses since 2022. Supported by Tourism WA, the industry consultations for Western Australia will be held from 5-6 June in Perth. Register here.  

Australia’s Coral Coast shines in Italian publications
Australia’s Coral Coast has received positive press coverage in Italy, generated by a Tourism WA-facilitated group media trip earlier this year. An eight-page spread was published in Style Piccoli, a bi-monthly, family focused magazine with an annual circulation of nearly 260,000. Partners mentioned in the story included Dirk Hartog Island Lodge, RAC Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort and the Lobster Shack. In weekly women’s magazine F, which has a circulation of 73,000, a seven-page story was also published, highlighting the vibrant colours and locations of the region, including Hutt Lagoon, the Pinnacles Desert, and Lancelin. The coverage is optimally timed ahead of the Rome to Perth direct flights resuming next month. Read more about WA’s Continental Europe markets here.  

Image credit: F magazine

Northam hot air ballooning floats into Australian Geographic
Hot air ballooning in Northam and the Avon Valley region has been featured in the latest edition of Australian Geographic magazine. The 10-page feature celebrates the competitors of the Women’s World Hot Air Ballooning Championship, held in Northam in September 2023. It profiles the town as a world-class destination for hot air ballooning, a key tourism experience for the region, and includes an overview of the top things to do when visiting Northam. As well as being printed for 465,000 readers, the article also ran online to an audience of over 33,000. Read the article here. 

Connecting students to WA’s tourism and hospitality industry
Tomorrow, Tourism WA will deliver the second Tourism & Hospitality School Connect to 100 registered high school educators and careers advisors. The event will share information on career pathways and resources to inspire the next generation of WA’s visitor economy workforce. Delivered by Tourism WA as part of the Tourism Workforce Development Program, along with the Chef Ambassador and Tourism and Hospitality Careers Promotion in-school programs, the initiative aims to elevate the profile of WA’s tourism and hospitality industry as a career of choice. Read more here. 

Image credit: Soco Studios

WA Tourism Awards nominations close soon
Nominations for the 2024 Perth Airport WA Tourism Awards close on Wednesday, 29 May. To enter, businesses need to complete a short nomination process, with final submissions due on Wednesday, 7 August. The Awards are open to all tourism-related businesses in Western Australia. With 27 categories to choose from, including festivals and events, adventure tourism, tours and transport, food, wine, accommodation, there is a category to suit every tourism business. Read more here.  

WA Tourism Conference registrations close soon
Registrations are closing soon for the 2024 Perth Airport WA Tourism Conference, taking place in Mandurah from 10-12 June. Hear from industry-leading speakers on critical industry issues and innovative ideas; participate in professional and business development, and network with industry colleagues. Learn more by viewing the conference program and speaker line up, and register here.

Individual Awards finalists announced
Finalists in the 2024 Perth Airport WA Tourism Awards for Individual Excellence have been announced with winners to be crowned at the 2024 Perth Airport WA Tourism Conference. Categories include the FACET Golden Guide Award, Individual Excellence in Aboriginal Tourism, Individual Excellence in Customer Service and Sir David Brand Young Achieve Medal categories. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, 11 June at the 2024 Perth Airport WA Tourism Conference Dinner in Mandurah. Register for the Conference here.