New capacity to bring more tourists to WA

Two significant changes this weekend have the potential to deliver tens of thousands of additional Chinese tourists to Perth, delivering a potential economic boost of up to $150 million a year.
 
Cathay Pacific will upgrade its daily Perth to Hong Kong services with an Airbus A350, replacing the current A330-300, adding more than 21,000 seats to the route per year. At the same time, China Southern Airlines is adding an additional daily service on a brand-new Airbus A33B bringing an additional 43,888 seats into play each year.
 
The moves come after Perth Airport recently unveiled plans to consult with its airline customers over a major expansion to the international terminal to allow for future growth.

“We need to make sure the international terminal is ready in advance of growing passenger numbers, delivering a great outcome for the airlines and their customers,” Mr Brown said.
 
Perth Airport Chief Executive Officer Kevin Brown says the decision by two major airlines to increase capacity to Perth is a huge vote of confidence in the Western Australian tourism sector.
 
“There is amazing potential in the China market for Western Australia,” Mr Brown said.
 
“Data shows there was an increase of almost 15 per cent in the number of Chinese nationals travelling through Perth Airport over the past financial year.
 
“As we build the profile and reputation of Perth and Western Australia in the Chinese market, we will unlock even greater numbers of Chinese tourists.
 
“As Chinese tourists are traditionally significant spenders, the flow-on benefits for tourism operators, hotels, hospitality and retail outlets could be enormous.
 
“We’re really thrilled that Cathay Pacific and China Southern are building their links with Perth Airport and our capital city.”

“On the tourism side alone, we know that the average Chinese tourist spends around $5,000 per visit in Western Australia.
 
“Based on that data, if we can fully capitalise on the increased capacity delivered by Cathay Pacific and China Southern we could potentially see up to $150 million flowing into the local economy each year.
 
“We also need to build on this growing momentum by attracting more tourists, more business travellers and more international students from China.
 
“At the same time, it opens up opportunities for Western Australia’s fresh food producers to increase their export volumes to China and provides new options for Perth businesses to travel to China to promote commercial opportunities.”

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