WA Showcased in Top Model Shoot

One of China's top supermodels Shu Pei Qin was the star of a celebrity photo shoot in the Pinnacles recently. Tourism WA's Singapore office arranged the itinerary and assisted with the arrangements of the photo shoot.

The shoot was organised by Nuyou, a leading Chinese women's fashion magazine from Singapore, for its bumper anniversary issue in September.

The shoot saw Qin wearing the latest fall/winter collection by Chanel, Celine and other international designers, and was photographed by Singapore celebrity photographer Wee Khim.

Based in New York, Qin has graced the covers of international women's magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Glamour and Harper's Bazaar and sashayed along the catwalks of some of the greatest designers such as Dior, Valentino, Givenchy and Chanel.

100 DAYS UNTIL PERTH 2011- Sailing Championships

Perth 2011 is celebrating a significant milestone with just 100 days to go until the biggest international sailing event of the year.

The World Championships will take place from 3-18 December, with 1200 athletes from 80 nations competing for 10 World Titles in the fresh breezes off Fremantle in Western Australia. The World Championships are also the key qualifier for the sailing competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games, with 75 per cent of places in London being decided in Perth in December.

Perth 2011 Chairman Ian Campbell said that a significant buzz is starting to build around the World Championships.

“Perth and Fremantle provide some of the best conditions for sailing in the world,” Campbell said.

“Combine these naturally favourable conditions for the sport with the hospitality and warmth of Fremantle and Western Australia and the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships are poised to be memorable.

“The Worlds Festival programme is shaping up very nicely and North Street Productions are committed to ensuring that there is something for everyone attending the World Championships away from the water as well as on it.

“Perth is set for “grandstand sailing” as the Medal Races for each class will be sailed just metres from the shore on Centre Course, allowing spectators to witness the excitement of the World Championships first hand.

“There’s a great team working very hard at Perth 2011 to ensure that when the world turns to Perth in December, we’ll be ready to provide a wonderful platform for the best young sailors on the planet to realise their World Championships and Olympic Games dreams,” Campbell said.

Running parallel to the sailing competition will be the Worlds Festival, a 16 day cultural programme that will include more than 200 free events. The Worlds Festival will be centred on, but not limited to, the Worlds Village on Esplanade Park in Fremantle, with venues around Perth’s port city hosting theatre, art exhibitions and music performances through the 16 days of the Worlds Festival.

Further details of the Worlds Festival will be released in due course.
The dream begins in Perth!

Perth Airport in $700m Makeover

Westralia Airports Corporation, owner and operator of Perth Airport, has revealed further details of the $700 million expansion of the domestic and international terminals.

The new $120 million Perth domestic terminal located adjacent to the international terminal has been designed to meet the needs of air services for regional Western Australia, including the booming mining towns.

Some 11.5 million passengers travelled through Perth Airport during FY 10/11, which saw domestic growth increasing by 9.6 percent and international by 9.1 percent.

Skywest, Alliance Airlines, Strategic and Tiger Airways will relocate to the new terminal in early 2013. Qantas and Virgin will remain in the current domestic terminal, which will be refurbished.

In addition to the new domestic terminal, there will be a major expansion of the international terminal with a new arrivals area and domestic pier, improved transport links, expanded car parking and increased capacity for more aircraft.

Construction of the international terminal expansion will commence later this year.

(Source: travelmole.com 25th August 2011)

Ironmen and Ironwomen to Take on Perth’s Best Surf Beaches this Summer

Perth’s famous surf beaches will be home to a new surf life saving event launched today by Tourism Minister Kim Hames.

“The Indian Ocean Classic, a new public participation event, would see athletes compete in an ironman style-event against some of the sport’s legends,” Dr Hames said.

“The race, which involves surf ski, boards, swimming and running will take place at some of Western Australia’s most famous beaches including Trigg, Scarborough, City Beach, Swanbourne and Cottesloe.

“The Indian Ocean Classic will be open to the general public and people can race as individuals or enter in teams of four. Organisers say entries will include teams of past ironmen legends, celebrities and local sports stars.”

The Minister also announced that the Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Ironman Series and Ironwoman Series would return to WA for the first time in 15 years, thanks to State Government support, through Eventscorp.

“The Ironman and Ironwoman series is recognised as one of the world’s most gruelling ocean-based competitions and last year each race attracted an average television audience of more than one million,” he said.

“Hosting a round of the competition for the next four years gives us the opportunity to showcase Western Australia’s extraordinary coastline to a huge TV audience and help further promote the sport in the State.”

The elite race will follow a similar course to the Indian Ocean Classic. Dr Hames said the State Government, through Eventscorp, was proud to support both events for the next four years. He congratulated event director and Ironman legend Guy Leech for developing both the Ironman race and the Indian Ocean Classic in partnership with sports marketing and management company, SEL.

The Indian Ocean Classic will be staged on Saturday, January 28, 2012. The Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Ironman Series race will be held on Sunday, January 29, 2012.

Fashion Festival Promises to be Another Runaway Success

Western Australia's biggest annual fashion event, the Perth Fashion Festival, is expected to wow audiences for the 13th year running when it starts next month.

Festival organisers have launched the 2011 calendar, which includes more than 40 events, the majority of which will be free for the public to attend. In the past four years, festival attendance had almost tripled from 15,000 people in 2007 to 44,355 last year.

For more information visit the website.

Perth Last in Poll of Tourism Strategies

WA tourism strategies were given the thumbs down in a new national industry survey that ranked Perth last among mainland capital cities.

The survey by Roy Morgan Research asked industry players to name the city with tourism strategies and products "most attuned to future needs".

Melbourne topped the poll easily with 45 per cent, followed by Sydney on 13 and Brisbane on 4 per cent. Perth and Darwin were last on 2 per cent.

The survey was commissioned by Tourism Victoria in preparation for next month's Tourism and Events Excellence conference in Melbourne.

Conference convenor Tony Charters said the research should be a massive wake-up call for other States. "Clearly Melbourne and Victoria are doing it right in terms of marketing their tourism product and attracting significant events," he said.

The poll attracted 384 respondents, mostly tourism operators, local government officials and representatives of regional and local tourism organisations. Most were from Victoria (49 per cent), Queensland (18) and WA (12).

Tourism WA chief executive Stephanie Buckland said the results were not surprising, given it was a voluntary online survey and most respondents were Victorians.

"In the past 18 months, Tourism WA has significantly restructured and repositioned our agency and strategy specifically so we can work with industry across the State to focus on consumers of the future," she said. "While there is always room for improvement, we are confident with this position."

Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said the city was working with the State Government and other bodies on a forward-thinking tourism strategy.

She said it was important to target growth markets and this was a priority with Perth's sister cities, particularly Nanjing and Chengdu in China.

It was also important for the State Government to fund tourism strategies and marketing properly, as the Victorian Government did.

Although small, Perth had exciting projects such as the Perth Waterfront and City Link, which would offer tourists something exciting.

Shows Australia: Taylor Swift Will Return to Australia in 2012

Taylor Swift has extended her Speak Now world tour, adding six dates in Australia and New Zealand in 2012. In less than a year, the globetrotting superstar will have visited nearly 20 countries spanning four continents since the hugely successful tour's official kick-off in Singapore in February.

Shows Australia: Taylor Swift Will Return to Australia in 2012

Barnett Promises Sunday Trading in Next Term

The Western Australian Premier, Colin Barnett, has told the Liberal Party state conference that, if re-elected, the party will deregulate Sunday trading hours.

The next state election is due in March, 2013.

Mr Barnett says shops in the Perth metropolitan area will be able to trade from 11:00am until 5:00pm.

"I think this is right and I think it meets the needs of the public," Mr Barnett said.

"People do want to go shopping on a Sunday."

The President of the Independent Grocers Association in WA, John Cummings, says the announcement is not good news for small business.

"In this depressed retail trading that we're in, with a number of small, independently owned retailers in suffering the worst sales for years, I think the last thing they need is the added expense of being open extra hours," Mr Cummings said.

A spokesman for the WA Nationals leader, Brendon Grylls, says the party's anti-deregulation stance has not changed.

Etihad could be flying to Perth - Perth Tourism News

Perth is set to reap even more benefits as a result of its booming resource fueled economy.

Etihad Airway’s National Sales Manager, Wayne Borland has indicated the possibility of the airline flying ex Perth is definitely ‘on the radar’.

Speaking at the recent Travelscene NCC conference, Mr Borland highlighted the rapid global expansion of the airline over the past 7 years and with new code share flights from Australia, Perth was ‘still on the list’.