WA to get into ship shape

Building vital cruise infrastructure is at the top of the agenda for Western Australia’s new national tourism funding scheme.

Under the new scheme, the $5 million funding boost over four years will be matched with a total investment of over $10 million and will first be spent on vital infrastructure for cruise ships, along with improving a lookout in Broome’s Chinatown and a redevelopment of a Rockingham jetty.

The funding is a partnership between the Federal and State governments under the Tourism Demand Driver Infrastructure (TDDI) Programme, which will receive $43 million in total over the next four years.

Plans are to create a tender platform in Busselton to allow smaller boats to transfer passengers from cruise ships, which CLIA Australasia general manager, Brett Jardine told Travel Weekly would “no doubt” generate further economic benefits for the region.

“It’s fantastic to see governments recognising the role they can play in supporting the development of regional tourism through strategic cruise infrastructure investment and we hope to see more of these types of projects,” Jardine said.

“Busselton has been a popular addition to Australia’s cruise map in the last 12 months and the creation of a tender platform can only further improve the passenger experience.”

“There’s no doubt this investment will help to encourage more cruise visits and generate further economic benefits for the region,” he said.

Other projects also being considered for future funding include Australia’s Golden Outback and Australia’s Coral Coast.

“Tourism is already our largest services export and Western Australia has some of the best natural assets in the world,” Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb said.

“Last year, 100 million Chinese went on an international holiday and this figure is set to reach more than 250 million by 2020. It is a case of, if you build it, they will come.”

West Australian Tourism Minister Kim Hames said the programme likely make WA even more attractive to tourists.

“Last year tourism generated $8.3 billion in visitor expenditure for the State’s economy and more than 94,000 jobs. This injection of federal funding will help increase visitor spending and create more tourism jobs in regional areas,” Hames said.

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