Realisng the fact that India is a cricket crazy nation, Western Australia (WA) recently organized a press and trade meetings in New Delhi highlighting Western Australia’s diverse tourism product portfolio and how the province is going to leverage on the ICC T20 World 2020. The delegation, led by Premier Mark McGowan, was comprised of legendary cricketer Adam Gilchrist, star commentator Harsha Bhogle and others.
Briefing the media, McGowan announced his Government, through Tourism Western Australia, would invest an additional $1 million to encourage more Indians to holiday in WA. He also introduced Gilchrist as Western Australia’s new tourism “opening batsman” to help promote the state as a holiday destination. “Growing the number of Indian people visiting Western Australia is a priority for the State Government and we’ve committed an additional $1 million to our marketing efforts to help achieve this goal,” he said adding that having cricketing legend Adam Gilchrist on the team as ‘WA’s Opening Batsman’ is a great opportunity to help promote our great state in the lead up to the T20 Cricket World Cup matches in Perth next year. “We know India loves cricket and Gilly is a living legend over here and he’s been a major asset in promoting WA. Visitor numbers are up so we know there is appetite for people in India to visit Western Australia and there are huge possibilities to grow this market even further,” McGowan added.
The additional $1 million funding will also raise awareness of WA as a holiday destination in the lead up to the cricket and help to encourage direct flights between India and Perth. It will be invested in cooperative marketing campaigns, trade education, consumer awareness, media and public relations activities.
Speaking on the occasion, Gilchrist said Western Australia is one of the most beautiful places on earth and I’m lucky to have called it home for more than 20 years. “I am happy to be working with Tourism WA to get the word out in India and encourage people to come and see our magnificent State,” the legendary wicketkeeper batsman said.
The visit has also seen McGowan and Gilchrist take part in a charity kids’ cricket clinic for the Magician Foundation, which uses sport to promote education and important life skills to children living in India’s poor communities. The Premier donated cricket kits to the foundation, on behalf of the people of Western Australia, to help its expansion into cricket.
India is a growing tourism market for Western Australia. In 2018-19 there was an 11.1 per cent overall growth in visitor numbers from India to 30,900, with leisure visitors increasing by 15.3 per cent to 14,100. Tourism Western Australia committed funds to market Western Australia in India for the first time just over 12 months ago.The initial wave of marketing activity coincided with the first-ever cricket test match to be played at Perth Stadium in December 2018.
