30/10/07
New figures have revealed Western Australia's tourism industry continues to be a strong economic performer, contributing $5.7billion to the State's economy.
Tourism Minister Sheila McHale said the 'WA Tourism Satellite Account 2005/2006' measured the industry's contribution to WA's economy, using national data compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Tourism Research Australia and analysed by Access Economics.
Ms McHale said the figures showed the tourism industry's contribution to WA's Gross State Product (GSP) in 2005/2006 was a massive $5.7billion.
"These results are very pleasing and show the State Government and tourism industry's efforts over the past 6 years are being rewarded," Ms McHale said.
Ms McHale said tourism continued to be an important creator of jobs in 2005/2006, directly and indirectly employing 63,000 people, remaining steady from 2001/2002.
Access Economics' Geoff Carmody said the tourism industry's contribution to WA's economy had grown by 29 per cent in the past four years, outstripping national tourism growth of 14 per cent.
"At 14 per cent growth over the past five years, national tourism is effectively flat-lining in real terms, however tourism in WA has seen real growth," Mr Carmody said.
"Overall, WA's share of tourism output has grown nationally from 8.5 per cent to 9.6 per cent, indicating WA is becoming a bigger player in the Australian tourism scene."
Ms McHale said skills shortages in the tourism industry continued to provide a challenge, as it did for many sectors across the economy.
"We must continue to focus on the quality of our tourism products and the experience we offer," Ms McHale said.
Details of the 'WA Tourism Satellite Account 2005/2006' are available from the website at http://www.tourism.wa.gov.au
Minister's office - 9213 6900
The 2005/2006 statistics are compared to revised statistics for 2001/2002. The method of calculating figures for the '2001/2002 National Tourism Satellite Account' were recently revised by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to increase the accuracy of the data. As a result, Access Economics revised the 2001/2002 'WA Tourism Satellite Account'. Comparisons between satellite accounts are now based on 2001/2002 revised figures.
