Record $14 billion tourism spend for WA

Sunset camel rides on Cable Beach enable tourists to experience this beautiful feature of the Broome coast from a different perspective. Photo credit: C.J. Maddock

Western Australia achieved its highest ever annual visitor spend on record, with $14 billion put into the WA economy by travellers in 2022.

Tourism Research Australia statistics show WA’s tourism recovery has led to a spending increase of $3.6 billion compared with 2021, and $500 million more than the previous record in 2019 before the pandemic.

Almost half of the record spend – about $6.8 billion – was injected into the regional WA economy. This included $2.84 billion in the South-West, $1.75 billion in the North-West, almost $1.1 billion in the Coral Coast and $1 billion in the Golden Outback.

WA was the top-performing State for growth in interstate leisure visitors, up 13 per cent compared with 2019 and a standout in bringing back international visitors, with nearly 380,000 overseas visitors from April to December 2022.