Some of Malaysia's top social media influencers will be recruited to turn their followers into WA travellers as part of a marketing agreement between Tourism WA and Malaysian travel agency, Corporate Information Travel (CIT).
Through the agreement, the influencers will create content promoting WA, linking to the CIT website where a range of WA holiday packages can be booked and paid for.
The packages include shorter coach tours around Perth and the South-West as well as longer self - drive adventures to the State's Coral Coast, South-West and Golden Outback regions.
The holiday experiences are designed to target high value travellers, a market segment known to spend more than the average traveller, as well as being more likely to stay longer and travel further when on holiday.
Perth city walking tours, a quokka selfie at Rottnest, Margaret River's famous wines and forests, the dolphins of Monkey Mia, Kalbarri's spectacular gorges, Kalgoorlie's Super Pit and Cape Le Grand National Park in Esperance are just some of the WA activities and attractions included in the CIT WA travel packages.
Other marketing activities with CIT include discounts on Perth flights and hotels promoted through the "Pick a Trip" travel app, promotion of WA holiday packages through Malaysian news website The Star Online; as well as Malaysian cinema advertising.
The agreement also includes the opportunity for WA to have a feature stand at the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair in March 2020.
The WA holiday packages are currently on sale through the CIT website with further campaign activity scheduled for the coming months.
The CIT deal forms part of the $12 million international marketing boost announced by Premier Mark McGowan and Tourism Minister Paul Papalia in March, to grow the number of people visiting WA from overseas.
As stated by Tourism Minister Paul Papalia:
"We know there are certain things high value travellers from Malaysia generally look for in a holiday destination including world-class nature, along with fantastic local cuisine and produce.
"We also know that Malaysians love self-drive holidays and our State is the perfect place to be explored by car.
"In the year ending March 2019, Malaysia ranked as our second-largest international market for leisure visitors, with those visitors spending $125 million in the State.
"The CIT agreement will tailor our State's amazing tourism experiences to this important market to perfectly fit their idea of a dream holiday, whether that be sipping spectacular wines surrounded by the beauty of our Swan Valley or Margaret River regions, or hitting the road on a historic Goldfields adventure.
"Growing tourism is key to the State Government's plan to diversify the economy, create jobs and develop business opportunities.
"Increasing the number of people travelling here from overseas will help achieve those objectives, which is why we committed an extra $12 million to Tourism WA's international marketing activity.
"It is the biggest international marketing push in the State's history and we hope to see thousands more people come to WA as a result of this surge in activity."
