Premier Mark McGowan will today attend the Festival of Apprentices in London - an event aimed at young people seeking future career opportunities to promote Western Australia as the ideal destination to visit and work.
The State Government, through Tourism WA, is the only travel brand or agency with a dedicated tourism stand at the event and will host a cooperative activity with UK youth specialists to attract working holiday makers to WA to assist with workforce needs.
WA's stand will also promote the State Government's Paid Escape incentive as well as Perth arrival packages for working holiday makers in partnership with Gap360 - the UK's leading independent specialist in gap year and youth travel for 18-30-year-olds.
Eligible working holiday makers could also make an extra $2,100 to work and travel in select regional locations through the WA Government's Regional Agriculture, Tourism and Hospitality Workers Travel and Accommodation Support Scheme.
This includes an accommodation allowance of $40 per night up to a maximum of six weeks for international working holiday makers or 12 weeks for Australians, along with a one-off allowance up to a maximum of $500 to assist with travel costs.
The Paid Escape website advertises jobs across WA in a wide range of regional areas including Albany, Bunbury and the South-West, Broome, Esperance, Exmouth, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Kununurra, Mandurah and Peel, Margaret River, Merredin, Northam and Port Hedland.
Further leveraging these campaigns and the working holiday maker workforce, an interstate social media campaign has promoted jobs specific to the industry through westernaustralia.jobs, the dedicated hospitality and tourism jobs and careers portal.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, backpackers and working holiday makers made up a significant portion of the workforce within the seasonal hospitality, tourism and primary industries sectors.
In 2019, WA welcomed 51,000 working holiday makers who stayed for a total of 4.48 million nights and spent $234 million in the State - equivalent to 9 per cent of international visitor spend in the State.
Also in 2019, 11,000 working holiday makers from the UK stayed for a total of 674,000 nights and spent $33 million - equivalent to 13 per cent of UK visitor spend in the State.
WA is being promoted as the ideal destination in which to invest, visit, study and work, which has been a focus of the Premier's Reconnect WA mission.
The mission kicked off in Italy with the first non-stop flight between Perth and Rome on June 25 with Qantas already re-committing to maintaining the route for 2023 with the prospects of the season expanding in the future.
To promote WA to future visitors across Italy, commuters throughout the major Italian cities of Milan and Rome are being reminded that Adventure Awaits on their next holiday to WA, with six metropolitan trams covered in Western Australia's trademark tourism branding.
The cooperative marketing partnership with Qantas kicked off in May to drive bookings for the new Qantas Perth-Rome direct service and showcases some of WA's favourite tourism destinations - from picturesque waterfalls and caves, to pristine beaches and the iconic Perth skyline.
The promotional activity complements a series of industry roundtables being hosted in Rome and London for tourism wholesalers, key distributors and travel trade partners aimed at stimulating further investment in the State's visitor economy.
The Premier will also meet with trade and investment partners throughout Europe, the United Kingdom and Qatar to generate further interest in other sectors, including renewable energy and resources in WA.
In his capacity as Treasurer, Mr McGowan will reinforce WA's newly attained AAA credit rating - the only jurisdiction in Australia to hold it - at a range of engagements and events in London and Dublin with banks and investors, as part of the mission led by the Western Australian Treasury Corporation to help deliver better outcomes for WA's borrowing program.
During the mission, the Premier will be meeting with both the President of Ireland and the Prime Minister of Ireland, and undertake a range of briefings on skilled migration and international education.
As stated by Premier Mark McGowan:
"The start of this mission has had a strong focus on growing WA tourism and opportunities for the WA tourism industry off the back of the launch of the new Qantas direct service between Perth and Rome.
"The recommitment of these non-stop flights between Perth and Rome for 2023 and the anticipated expanded season has been welcomed by industry, Government and businesses.
"This has been evident in the positive engagement and participation in a series of strategic meetings and roundtable discussions I've held while in Italy.
"As the mission continues in the UK, our key message centres on Western Australia as a safe and incredible place in which to live, study, visit and do business.
"This is about promoting investment in other sectors to help diversify the State's economy, create jobs and support businesses across a range of industries."
