Western Australia to offer sops to airlines connecting an Indian city to Perth

In a bid to promote tourism, the government of Western Australia wants to provide incentives to airlines that will connect an Indian city to Perth.

“We are currently working on a strategy which may include incentives for airlines to fly to Western Australia,” Tim Fraser, Chief of Staff in the Ministry of Tourism, Government of Western Australia, told BusinessLine over e-mail.

Traditionally, Indians visited the more developed eastern coast of Australia, to cities such as Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. However, Western Australia, the country’s biggest State, is now catching up, thanks to its huge mineral resources and tourism potential.

Data provided by the government of Western Australia in Perth show that the number of Indians who visited eastern Australia in the year ended June 2017 rose 43 per cent to 27,300 from 19,100 a year ago. More importantly, people spent more. The estimated spends also rose to $86 million, almost doubling from $45 million over the periods in comparison.

That Western Australia has been getting more attention from Indians is borne out by another data point. The rise in the number of Indians who visited Australia (as opposed only to Western Australia) in the year ended June 2017 was 260,600, which was only 15 per cent higher than in the corresponding previous year.

Against this backdrop, it is understood that the Ministry of Tourism of the State government is sending a delegation headed by Rita Saffioti, member of Western Australian Legislative Assembly and CEO of the Perth Airport for direct talks with Indian airline companies.

“Western Australia has several unique tourism propositions such as caravanning and camping, cruising and food and wine tourism. A large part of the Australian outback lies in Western Australia,” says Raj Selvendra, a businessman in Perth, who is informally assisting the Ministry of Tourism to link with an Indian airline.

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