WA on the road to recovery, 12 months after the collapse of Ansett

13/9/02
Tourism Minister Clive Brown today paid tribute to the tourism industry for the courage it had shown during one of the biggest aviation challenges Western Australia had ever experienced.
He said WA was showing some positive signs of a recovery, but conceded there still was some way to go.
Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the collapse of Ansett.
"The full impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks was still being realised when it became apparent that Ansett, and with it regional airline Skywest, would be grounded," Mr Brown said.
The Government responded by developing a 10-point plan for recovery that included a $5million crisis marketing fund. A strategic aviation committee, chaired by Premier Geoff Gallop, also was established to consider access issues.
The Minister said tourism operators and workers should be commended for the hard work they had shown over the past 12 months to help the industry turn around.
Skywest recommenced flying one week after the grounding of Ansett. Ansett II began flying in October 2001, restoring access to about 80 per cent of pre-crisis capacity and Virgin Blue entered the market in December 2001. Qantas and Virgin Blue went a long way towards filling the shortfall in the capacity that was on the major trunk routes prior to the Ansett collapse, but the Minister said access still remained an issue for Broome, Kununurra and Exmouth.
Emirates now flies to Perth from Dubai, and Qantas has introduced four new return flights each week to Perth from Rome, and three new return flights from Paris in August.
An upgrade from Boeing 767 to refitted Boeing 747-400 aircraft on seven Qantas Perth to Singapore return services has provided an extra 1,421 seats a week.

"The Bureau of Tourism Research National Visitor Survey showed intrastate tourism underpinned the State's recovery, with an additional 658,000 Western Australians travelling to Perth and regional WA in the six months to March 2002," Mr Brown said.
"Every time we take a day trip or a holiday in WA, we support small business and help create jobs.
"Every $1million spent by tourists in this state creates another 12 jobs for WA.
"The drop in interstate tourists of 7.9 per cent - or 77,000 visitors - was countered by a significant increase in the length of time they spent in this State; up 22 per cent on the same period for the previous year."
Mr Brown said the State's recovery strategy had focussed first on Western Australians and expanded to interstate markets as capacity on regular air services became available.
Campaigns were developed for international markets including Malaysia, the UK, Japan and New Zealand as opportunities were identified.
International tourists declined by just 1.3 per cent during this period; representing a decline of only 5,900 visitors on the Bureau of Tourism Research International Visitor Survey of two years previously.
Westralia Airports Corporation Foreign National Arrivals showed a significant fall in the number of passengers arriving at Perth international terminal in the four months following the terrorist attacks. Strong signs of recovery were evident with arrivals surpassing 2001 figures for the months of February, March, May and June.
"International tourism in WA is forecast to increase by about seven per cent a year over the next decade," Mr Brown said.
He said one way to get the industry back on its feet was for Western Australians to take a holiday in WA.
Minister's office: 9222 9699