Research reveals visitor satisfaction with Western Australian tourism experiences

Tourism WA has released a new report on its annual Visitor Experiences and Expectations Research (VEER), which shows holiday visitors to and within Western Australia in 2024/25 were highly satisfied with their experience.

The report reveals that three in five visitors (63%) surveyed said their holiday in Western Australia was better than expected, with interest in Aboriginal tourism in in the state continuing to rise, with four in five visitors (82%) saying they would be interested in experiencing Aboriginal tourism in Western Australia if it were easily accessible.

Key findings from the Visitor Experience and Expectations Research revealed:

• Visitors continued to be very satisfied with their holiday in Western Australia in 2024/25, with nearly all (99%) rating their experience positively, with more than half (56%) describing their trip as ‘excellent’.

• Expectations of nearly all visitors (99%) were therefore easily met in 2024/25, with three in five (63%) said their WA holiday surpassed their expectations.

• Western Australia’s natural assets, including its beaches and coastline, unique natural sights and pristine natural environments, as well as good food and wine are the main reason visitors choose to holiday in Western Australia. These also continue to be the main reason visitors would recommend Western Australia as a holiday destination to their friends/family.

• More than nine in 10 visitors were either fairly or very satisfied with the following aspects of their holiday: accommodation, food and drink, natural attractions, manmade attractions, friendliness of locals, customer service, personal safety & security and variety of things to see and do. Despite being the lowest scoring aspects, more than three quarters of visitors were either fairly or very satisfied with public transport and nightlife.

• Advocacy to recommend Western Australia as a holiday destination is high, with a strong Net Promoter Score of 84, up nine points from 2023/24.

• In 2024/25, 60% of visitors rated their holiday as ‘extremely good’ or ‘good’ value for money. This is a decrease of - 2 percentage points since 2023/24 but still a strong result compared to earlier years. One in 20 visitors (5%) said their Western Australia holiday was poor value for money, with cost of accommodation and/or food and drinks most commonly cited as the reason.

• 81% of visitors had a particularly memorable experience in Western Australia. A natural attraction was the most common reason.

• Aboriginal tourism in Western Australia continues to be of great interest to visitors, with four in five visitors (82%) saying they would be interested in experiencing Aboriginal tourism in Western Australia if it were easily accessible. However, participation levels remain relatively low, with just quarter (24%) of visitors actually having an Aboriginal tourism experience in 2024/25. This demonstrates that raising awareness and supply of aboriginal tourism experiences is critical to meet visitor demand.

Other than Perth, the South West was the most visited region in 2024/25, with 46% having visited the region. The length of stay among the visitor source markets varies; intrastate visitors were most likely to have taken breaks of up to one week (90%) while the majority of international visitors (83%) and two thirds (64%) of interstate visitors were visiting Western Australia for more than a week.

Click here to access the Visitor Experience and Expectations Research.

Image: The Busselton Jetty Underwater Observatory.