Tourism Council WA welcomes milestone Western Australian budget funding for major events

Tourism Council WA has welcomed the record $201 million funding for Tourism WA in the 2024/25 state budget, which it sees as being essential to recover international visitors and attract additional interstate visitors to Western Australia.

The tourism budget included $25 million in additional funding over four years for major events, which would build on the success of recent events such as Perth’s exclusive Coldplay concerts, the WWE Elimination Chamber and the UFC.

Tourism Council WA Chief Executive, Evan Hall said the Western Australian Government’s investment in the Coldplay concerts and the WWE Elimination Chamber brought in a combined $103 million in visitor expenditure for Western Australia and generated 824 full-time equivalent jobs.

Hall noted “with world-class event facilities in Optus Stadium and RAC Arena, the additional $25 million for major events will be critical to grow tourism and jobs in WA.

“We need to remain absolutely focused on those key major events that bring in tens of thousands of international and interstate visitors to WA and the thousands of jobs their spending creates.

“Bidding for events is highly competitive between States - this funding will enable WA to secure big, Australian exclusives and to become a dominant event destination in South East Asia.”

The Western Australian budget also included record funding for destination marketing, which received a $12 million per annum increase for two years from the mid-year review in December 2023.

Welcoming this, Hall added “the increased marketing funding will give us a competitive advantage to get travel agents, tour companies and airlines around the world to bring their customers to Western Australia.”

Image: Last November's Coldplay concert at Perth's Optus Stadium last month (credit: David Etherton/VenuesWest).