Evan Hall and Australian Dollar

Australian dollar: Tourism Council WA said the latest International Visitor Survey showed there were 826,700 overseas visitors to WA in 2014, an increase of 8 per cent compared to the previous year, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Chief executive Evan Hall said it was a significant increase, largely driven by a lower Australian dollar. "Over the last 12 to 18 months, that been dropping down to where it is now, around that 75-cent mark, so that had quite an immediate effect," he said. "We've basically been held back by the high Aussie dollar and the cost of travelling in Western Australia because of the resources boom, now that been stripped out, we're a very attractive destination." We expect this $130 million boost would create about 900 jobs throughout the state. Map: Perth 6000 Western Australia has seen a jump in international tourist numbers, with an extra 60,000 visitors flocking to the state, according to the state tourism lobby group. Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall Mr Hall said the extra visitors were "overwhelmingly" leisure tourists, such as holiday-makers or people visiting friends and family. "Leisure tourists tend to spend more and they certainly stay longer, and they get out to more parts of regional Western Australia," he said. Mr Hall said the extra visitor numbers translated to a $133 million injection to the state economy, as well as new jobs. "For every $140,000 spent by tourists in Western Australia, it creates an extra job," he said. "So we expect this $130 million boost would create about 900 jobs throughout the state." New attractions expected to attract more visitors in the future Mr Hall said he expected tourists to continue to flock to Western Australia in coming years. "We're actually going to have a lot of new hotels rooms coming on in Perth," he said. "That going to mean Perth is a more attractive place to stay and, to be frank, it'll be a cheaper place to stay." Mr Hall said future attractions such as Perth Stadium, Elizabeth Quay and the new WA Museum would also help attract more visitors. "There a lot of extra reasons to come to WA... so with the Aussie dollar where it is, I think we're going to see this surge continuing over the next three to four years," he said. Mr Hall said the increase in leisure tourists had more than offset the drop in business visitors. "Business travel actually declined over that period, it down about 3 per cent and we think that basically reflects the drop off in the resources sector," he said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.