Skip to main content
Home
  • The Legislative Assembly meets on 16/04/2024 (01:00 PM)
    Assembly sit 16/04/2024
  • The Legislative Council meets on 16/04/2024 (01:00 PM)
    Council sit 16/04/2024
  • The Public Administration meets on 08/04/2024 (10:00 AM)
    Committee meet 08/04/2024

Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 128 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 26 May 2021 by Mr S.N. Aubrey

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

TOURISM — STAY, PLAY AND SAVE CAMPAIGN

128. Mr S.N. AUBREY to the Minister for Tourism:

I refer to the McGowan Labor government's significant support for the WA tourism industry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which has included incentives and discounts for Western Australians. Can the minister outline to the house what the government's significant support package, including its Stay, Play and Save program will mean for businesses and jobs in Western Australia's tourism industry?

Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied:

I thank the member for Scarborough. Many people would not know that the member for Scarborough spent most of his childhood in Mandurah, so he is a Mandurah boy. Now he is the champion of Scarborough.

It is great to have a question from the member for Scarborough because this is an important program. As we are aware, COVID-19 has impacted on tourism in Western Australia, as it has across the world. Of course, we are doing so very well in many parts of our tourism sector, including, of course, in the regions with the Wander Out Yonder campaign, which the former Minister for Tourism launched last year and which has been an outstanding success. One thing that we have found in Perth in particular is that many of our hotels have midweek occupancy rates that are lower than we would want. Yesterday, I launched on the back of a trike, with a couple of likely looking ''trikists''—for want of a better word—the Stay, Play and Save campaign. I do not know whether ''trikists'' was the correct word! I launched the second phase of the State, Play and Save campaign, which is focused very much on enticing people to book a midweek stay for two or more nights in hotels in metropolitan Perth and its surrounds. That will support not only those hotels with bed numbers, but also, through this second phase of the campaign, a number of our tourism operators who operate within the Perth CBD and its environs. In addition to the two nights, people will get $200 off their booking. They will also get two vouchers that allow them to have a mystery experience. I can tell members that there are some great experiences as part of this package.

Several members interjected.

Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN: I seek protection from my own side!

People can have a great experience on the trikes that I rode yesterday or go on a segway tour.

Several members interjected.

Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN: I am from Northam, so I pronounce things differently!

Segway tours. They can go on an Eat the Street walking tour. That is a great tour. I talked yesterday with the young lady who explained that. It was a great experience. People will also get a meal at each of the 40 participating hotels, including in the member for Scarborough's electorate at the Ramada By Wyndham VetroBlu Scarborough Beach, which is a great hotel.

Mr V.A. Catania: You're struggling with this portfolio as well, aren't you?

Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN: Pronunciation was never my greatest strength.

This is a very important initiative for the tourism industry and for Perth in particular. Weekend bookings in our Perth hotels are going well, but we want to get people out into our city hotels midweek, and the Stay, Play and Save campaign is focused on doing that. The first phase of the campaign was very successful. We saw an increase in bed numbers of several thousand as part of that program and we want to keep doing that. I ask the member for Scarborough to entice all his friends and family from the great regional City of Mandurah to make a midweek booking. I ask all members to do that because that will support our hotel industry in the Perth CBD and its environs, our excellent experienced tourism operators who operate in Perth and the Western Australian economy.