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The State Government has unveiled its latest international tourism campaign, a $2.2 million advertising push to sell Western Australia as the "Road Trip State".
Key points:
- The campaign will be pushed to nine international locations
- It aims to target the working holiday market and encourage road trips
- There are concerns for foreign visitor safety on country roads
The slogan will be used to sell WA driving holidays to domestic markets and nine international locations, including China, Germany and the United Kingdom.
"We will be now marketing that this place, above all else in the world, is the place to come for a unique road trip," WA's Tourism Minister Paul Papalia said.
He said the primary target group was the "working holiday market."
"We got a bad reputation, naturally, as not being a good place to come to find work after the boom … [we are going to] tell them that this is the place to come," Mr Papalia said.
"The people who come as backpackers to work in our hospitality and horticultural sectors, and stay for a long period of time, boost our visitor numbers, boost our overnight stay numbers, and spend the money that they earn while they're here."
WA tourism figures from July showed overseas visitor numbers only increased by 1.1 per cent to the 12 months to March 2018.
It compared to Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, which saw their numbers surge by 20 and 15.8 per cent respectively.
The advertising material details road trips from the Great Southern Drive to the Indian Ocean Drive and the Gibb River Road.
"Hitting the road in Western Australia means the murmur and melody of a good conversation, your favourite playlist, and progressive discoveries through some of Australia's most iconic landscapes," the brochure reads.
Safety concerns for regional roads
WA Opposition Tourism Spokeswoman Libby Mettam said it was good to see the regions being promoted, but she said the idea of selling such long-distance travel as "road trips" could be potentially misleading.
"Driving to Kununurra for example is certainly not a road trip, it's potentially misleading," Ms Mettam said.
"When you look at some of the countries that are being targeted, a two-hour drive could take you across their entire country. That's not even going to take you to Busselton."
It has prompted Perth transport operator Adams to raise concerns about safety on WA roads, particularly country roads.
"I certainly think the campaign is a great campaign," Adams Group managing director Adam Barnard said.
"I just feel we have to be cautious in regards to our source markets that do traditionally drive on the right-hand side of the road.
"Instinctually, when they are overtaking and something happens, they want to move to the right as we move to the left."
Mr Barnard suggested the campaign be supported with a road safety message for international drivers.
Mr Papalia said he was not worried about foreign visitors on regional roads.
"Far more West Australians crash on the wrong side of the road than foreigners ever do," he said.
"In these markets a lot of them are left-hand side of the road drivers … we're not going to limit ourselves.
"We want to attract markets, we certainly want to attract the biggest markets in the world."
The campaign will be rolled out in domestic markets next month. It comes on the heels of a push for people to stay in Perth as an affordable holiday destination.
Topics: tourism, travel-and-tourism, rural-tourism, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, perth-6000, wa
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