TripAdvisor CEO Matt Goldberg believes pitching WA ‘experiences’ will help boost isolated city’s tourism

WA’s isolation means it’s not getting its “fair share” of travellers, the head of one of the world’s biggest travel websites believes, but he says pitching “experiences” will win over tourists. TripAdvisor.com global chief executive Matt Goldberg said WA’s remote position from the rest of the world presented the biggest challenge in drawing in tourists. He revealed that of all the people using TripAdvisor’s site, who were interested in coming to Australia, just one in 10 showed appetite in travelling to the West Coast. “Perth probably doesn’t get its fair share of travellers,” he told The West during his visit to Perth this week for the World Travel and Tourism Council’s global summit. “Our data suggests that when people are interested in Australia, about 10 per cent are looking into Western Australia, and then there’s a fall-off between who’s looking and who’s actually coming. “Distance is a big part of that. In Western Australia, I think we can tell the stories so that more travellers want to come. “The location is also a challenge very far away, so you have to convince people to make their way to Perth.” One of the trends identified by Mr Goldberg and other participants at this week’s summit was a demand for experiences rather than material items. As part of a broader consumer shift towards buying memories, Mr Goldberg said WA’s unique environmental offerings gave the State an important edge. “One of the things that we’re really seeing post-pandemic is that people are putting experiences at the heart of their budget,” he said. “They’re beginning their travel research, not necessarily by saying, ‘Where do I want to go, where do I want to stay’, but more often, ‘what kind of an experience do I want to have’. “Western Australia has an opportunity to tell that story about the experience you can have here, and for the kind of traveller who is open to that distance.” He pointed to TripAdvisor’s recent designation of Kings Park as Australia’s number one attraction — dethroning the Sydney Opera House based on travellers’ reviews and ratings on their website. “What you saw for the first time was King’s Park becoming the number one attraction in Australia and that augers really good things to come,” he said. “It’s the ability to present experiences that are like none other, whether it is a culinary experience ... or an outdoor experience, you know, the ability to get out into space. “Going up north to the Kimberley and being able to just experience places where not that many human beings have ever experienced — that’s unique. “The location, the land, the history, the culture, the people — both the original owners and also the people who are now modernising and making contemporary — it is a fabric that has been put together that I think has real potential.” WA’s target markets for growth — the booming middle classes of China and India — were both the focus of speeches at the summit, with Trip.com chief executive Jane Sun revealing Chinese tourists were getting older and preferred efficient, visa-free travel. India’s younger generation, the summit was told, was “living in the now” — choosing to throw away previous generations’ cautious saving and instead see the world. Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said the summit had brought some of the world’s biggest tourism investors to the State to become familiarised with WA. Ms Saffioti said one of the bigger demands had been for more “glamping” sites, and in some cases, more sophisticated options than on offer in WA. “What I heard loud and clear is that the different types of experiences like glamping, that seems to be what people are really chasing around the world, and many countries with great landscapes are delivering those real types of wilderness experiences,” she said.