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February 26, 2015

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Western Australia wants to lure more Chinese tourists

While Australia has become one of the most popular overseas travel destinations for Chinese tourists, western Australia is still quite a new land for them.

During the first 10 months of 2014, about 480,000 Chinese travelers went to Australia, but only about 35,000 of them went to the west. The number, however, was up about 13 percent from the previous year.

Tourism Western Australia wants to change the situation. Recently it came to Shanghai to promote the area’s tourism resources to the Chinese people.

Johnny Nee, director of the institute’s international marketing for North Asia, said that western Australia features everything needed for a great leisure trip, including adventure, beautiful scenery, comfortable accommodations and fantastic booze and food.

“The Chinese market is a relatively new market to us, compared to Queensland or New South Wales,” said Nee. “But we hope that in 2020, there will be more than 100,000 Chinese tourists to western Australia every year.”

Nee said there are no low-quality travel packages targeting western Australia, so the prices are relatively high, but he said the packages ensure good experiences for tourists.

Charley Shen, country manager for China of the institute, said the northwestern and southwestern areas of Perth are the most attractive places in western Australia.

“The Pinnacles is praised as the only place on earth boasting the land form of the lunar surface, where people can enjoy a grotesque stone forest in a desert,” said Shen. “The place is very popular among Chinese tourists.”

The Margaret River area of southwestern Perth is another treasure. It features wineries with great views of rivers and forests.

“With the development of the economy, an increasing number of Chinese people have learned to appreciate wine as well as their place of origin,” said Shen. “And the Margaret River certainly is an ideal destination for them.”

Meanwhile, tourists can also walk along a coastal area while enjoying diving and interacting with wildlife.

“As for food, the lobster produced in western Australia is a must-try,” said Shen. “Usually lobsters are baked with cheese, but there people just barbecue the lobsters to keep their original flavor to the extreme.”

There are now three direct flights from Guangzhou to Perth per week. They are the only direct flights between China and western Australia.

“We hope that for the next year, there will be more direct flights to attract tourists,” said Nee.




 

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