WA aims to tackle hotel void

TOURISM WA will divert $2 million in funding to help fill empty hotel rooms in Perth as the city suffers its lowest occupancy rates in seven years.

At the request of the West Australian Government, the tourism body will reprioritise existing funding to mount an urgent campaign targetting travellers from Sydney, Melbourne and Asian markets.

“The hotel sector is hurting and we need to focus on direct campaigns that drive visitation to fill planes, get visitors to Perth and fill our hotel rooms,” said WA Tourism Minister Paul Papalia.

“Tourism WA has been working hard to get the message out there that Perth is no longer expensive and there are plenty of quality accommodation options to choose from,” he said.

A downturn in business travel to WA has coincided with a series of new hotels coming online, resulting in occupancy rates as low as 75.6% in Jun.

Since 2012, more than 1,600 rooms have been added to Perth’s hotel inventory, including Crown Towers, Peppers Kings Square, Tribe Hotel, Fraser Suites, and Quest Adelaide Terrace.

Another 1,850 hotel rooms are scheduled to open by 2020.

Tourism WA will work with co-operative marketing partners including airlines, travel agents and websites to offer incentives for short lead time travel.

Efforts will target markets including Singapore, Malaysia, China, Sydney and Melbourne.