Aussie travellers crown our country’s most desirable city to visit

WA capital hailed as a “must visit” destination for 2017, beating Sydney and Melbourne!

Perth in Western Australia has been chosen as the most desirable city in the country for Aussie travellers to visit.

In a survey of its Choice Privileges members by Choice Hotels Asia-Pac, one of Australia’s largest hotel franchise groups, 1 in 5 travellers said that if they could visit any state capital in Australia, it would be Perth.

The WA capital received 21% of votes, which beat Sydney (17%), Melbourne (15%) and Hobart (15%) to take the number one spot.

Welcoming this tourism endorsement by Choice Privileges members, CEO of Tourism WA, Gwyn Dolphin, said: “Perth is undergoing its biggest transformation in 100 years, with major billion-dollar developments in the pipeline. Unprecedented levels of public and private investment have resulted in some huge changes which are making Perth a great place to visit.”

Tourism is vital to the WA economy, injecting more than $9 billion into the State economy each year and creating more than 94,000 jobs for the people of Western Australia.[1]

“All of this investment has created huge changes in Perth which, coupled with our fabulous climate and outdoor lifestyle, is making us the “must visit” Australian city for 2017 and beyond,” Mr Dolphin added.

Some of these changes include a new waterfront precinct, known as Elizabeth Quay, on the Swan River, a new 60,000-seat stadium, and a $428.3 million museum. The $1 billion redevelopment of Perth Airport will also make the city even more accessible for tourists from other states.

Choice Hotels is planning to take advantage of these growing tourism numbers, having recently added 350 hotel rooms to its portfolio with two new Perth CBD hotels – the Comfort Inn & Suites Goodearth Perth and the Quality Hotel Ambassador Perth.

Following the survey of Choice Privileges members, CEO of Choice Hotels Asia-Pac, Trent Fraser, said that the Western Australian capital has become an increasingly attractive tourism destination for Australian travellers.

“With overnight visitor numbers growing in Perth, and a number of key infrastructure projects on the horizon that will benefit tourists, the popularity of the capital city is only going to increase,” Mr Fraser said. “Earlier this year we were delighted to add two new CBD properties to our portfolio in Perth, which will perfectly compliment the other Perth hotels under our franchise group, giving travellers from across Australia even more choice when they’re visiting WA.”

Perth is a growth market for Australian tourism, with the city witnessing a 6.9% growth in the number of overnight visitors in the last 12 months, based on research by Tourism Western Australia[2]. The WA capital is increasingly attracting visitors from within Australia, with an 18.2% increase in interstate overnight visitors over the same period.

Choice Hotels has more than 300,000 Choice Privileges members in the Asia-Pacific market, offering its members rewards and guaranteeing the best available rate in market. There are six properties in Perth for tourists to choose from, including the latest CBD hotel, Quality Hotel Ambassador, which joined the franchise group in August 2016