Western Australian Tourism Minister announces WA Events and Tourism Boost

Western Australian Tourism Minister Liz Constable has announced a major addition to the 2011 events calendar, along with several initiatives which will help boost tourism in the State.

In a speech to a recent Tourism Council of Western Australiaâs industry breakfast, Dr Constable announced that Tourism WA had established a partnership with the Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) to secure an exclusive production to launch the 2011 festival.

Dr Constable explained "Tourism WA and PIAF will bring the internationally-renowned and multi-award winning Pan.Optikum to Perth to open the 2011 Perth International Arts Festival.

"The production, featuring a 40-strong ensemble cast, is a free, family-friendly event featuring a mix of acrobatics, pyrotechnics, large-scale video effects and live music, and has already performed to great acclaim across Europe, Mexico, Singapore and at the world-famous Glastonbury Festival in England.

"An event like this will help position PIAF nationally and internationally as one of the worldâs leading arts festivals and, to support this, Tourism WA will also establish a new marketing partnership with PIAF to promote the festival throughout Australia and South-East Asia."

Minister Constable also announced major developments in other potential and established events in WA:

• Hopman Cup: the Western Australian Government has committed additional funding to the Hopman Cup to secure the event in Perth through to 2014 via a new four-year agreement between Tourism WA and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). This support will further cement the tournament as the strongest event in the world leading up to the Australian Open and deliver increased visitation to the State and enhanced television coverage through the new agreement with ONE HD and Network 10.
• Ord Valley Muster: Tourism WA is working with the Ord Valley Muster and Mellen Events to significantly increase the impact of this event by securing a quality international artist to perform at the Kimberley Moon concert. The partnership will also help to establish other supporting events around the concert to attract visitors and encourage a longer stay in the region.
• National Short Course Swimming: Eventscorp WA has launched a bid to bring the event to Perth in June 2011. The event is expected to attract approximately 1,400 visitors and provide an estimated $2million boost to the economy. It would also be broadcast nationally in Australia with 20 hours of broadcast reaching 500,000 people.

Dr Constable said the announcements capped off what had been an extraordinary period of activity for tourism in Western Australia, adding "the news comes on top of the recent announcement that the State Government had secured the return to Perth of the V8 Supercars, the continued blockbuster success of A Day in Pompeii and The Graduate, and the agreements signed by Tourism WA with Jetstar and Singapore Airlines to significantly increase visitation to, and marketing of, the State.

"We have listened to what the industry believes is the role of Tourism WA and, with our increased focus on marketing, events and cross-portfolio collaboration, the Governmentâs strategy for tourism is entering a new era."

For more information go to www.tourism.wa.gov.au/events/Pages/Major_Events.aspx