WA welcomes record overseas visitors

• Over one million overseas visitors arrived in WA in the 12 months to October 2025, the highest number of international tourists ever recorded in the State
• Milestone marks full recovery for State's tourism sector from COVID-19 and sets stage for next decade of growth
• WA beats Australia for international tourism recovery 
• Supports the Cook Government's commitment to diversify the economy so it remains strongest in the nation

Western Australia has achieved the highest ever number of international visitors in the State's history, welcoming more than one million international visitors in the 12 months to October 2025.

New data from Tourism Research Australia (TRA) shows WA received a record-breaking 1.024 million overseas visitor arrivals in the year ending October 2025, smashing the pre-COVID-19 benchmark of 996,000 arrivals, and marking the State's full tourism recovery from the pandemic.

WA was the nation's top-performing State for international tourism recovery, recording Australia's biggest year-on-year percentage increase in overseas visitor numbers and fully recovering from COVID-19 a full two years ahead of the TRA's forecast for Australia as a whole. The international market recovery comes after the interstate market fully recovered in March 2023.

The milestone visitor numbers have been achieved after the WA Government, through Tourism WA, rolled out the award-winning global tourism brand Walking On A Dream around the world, followed by celebrity-led marketing campaigns like Drive the Dream with Daniel Ricciardo, and a strong suite of conversion campaigns with global trade partners which boosted bookings to the State.

The growth in international visitor numbers has also been driven by major events like WWE: Crown Jewel and the Bledisloe Cup, continued investment into elevating Aboriginal tourism, and increasing visitor participation in Aboriginal experiences, as well as attracting major cruise lines, with cruise tourism now at 160 per cent of pre-COVID levels.

The State's aviation network has also expanded, with WA now connected to 20 global cities and serviced by 24 international airlines. International seat capacity into the State hit 131 per cent of January 2019 levels in January, while interstate seat capacity topped 110 per cent.

The full recovery of visitor numbers earlier than expected demonstrates the WA Government's success in delivering on its economic diversification strategy, with the visitor economy growing to record-breaking levels.

Tourism is the State's fifth largest employer, supporting more than 120,000 tourism filled jobs in 2023-24 and over 30,000 tourism and hospitality business across WA.

Find out more at tourism.wa.gov.au

Comments attributed to Tourism Minister Reece Whitby:

"More than a million international visitors in a year is an incredible achievement, and to not only deliver international visitor recovery ahead of the nation, but exceed it by 28,000 visitors, is a phenomenal result for Western Australia.

"These are incredible results, but the work is just getting started. We're committed to driving further growth in the tourism sector and delivering on our government's economic diversification strategy, to grow the wider economy and create more tourism and hospitality jobs for Western Australians.

"Thanks to our global brand cutting through the competitive world stage, and a strong conversion and trade focus helping deliver more bookings, we've achieved what no other State has managed, and put our tourism industry back in the strong position it was in before the COVID-19 pandemic, and ready to hit the new heights set out in our 10-year plan for tourism.

"This achievement shows the Cook Government's investment in tourism is working, whether its promoting WA abroad with an award-winning brand, securing blockbuster events, increasing aviation connectivity, creating sustainable Aboriginal tourism experiences, or activating the regions through new cruise and accommodation options, the visitor economy is growing."