Fears Middle East war will lead to drop in WA’s international tourism after record tourism figures

WA’s tourism industry faces an uncertain path ahead as war in the Middle East turns international travellers away. Nearly 1.1 million visitors came to WA in 2025, more than any other calendar year, injecting $3.4 billion into the State’s economy. The United Kingdom remained the largest source of visitors into WA, with around 163,000 trips taken in 2025, up 38 per cent compared to the 12 months prior. WA also saw an increase in interstate visits, with 1.2 million crossing the Nullabor, an 11 per cent increase. While tourism numbers surpassed pre-COVID levels in the State for the first time last year, conflict in the Middle East could disrupt the momentum. Flights though major airports in the UAE and Qatar were cancelled after the Gulf nations were brought into the war between the US, Israel and Iran. While many flights have since resumed, travellers remain wary of further disruptions. It’s led to concerns uncertainty will see a drop in people travelling. Tourism Council of WA chief executive Evan Hall said WA would see a reduction of international bookings, but international uncertainty could open up other opportunities domestically. “There’s so much uncertainty worldwide, we’ll certainly see a reduction in forward bookings as people largely wait and see before making their their holiday plans,” he said. “For Western Australians in particular, we’ve been doing a quite intense consumer survey to see what they’re planning to do, and 51 per cent of them said that they are, in fact, more likely to holiday in WA while there is this uncertainty about the Middle East. “While we might well see a reduction in international visitors to Western Australia, we think there’s certainly a huge opportunity to not only have Western Australians travel at home, but to have an increase in interstate tourism to to Western Australia.” Mr Hall said tourism operators in the State were still seeing high demand for the upcoming school holidays from domestic and intrastate travellers. Curtin University School of Management and Business Professor Kirsten Holmes said WA was in a better position than States on the east coast. “For tourism coming into WA, I guess the biggest concerns would be some of our traditional European markets, because there’s just fewer flights,” she said. “Possibly WA will be less impacted than other parts of Australia, because we have the direct flight coming straight here, and that’s still flying direct, which is good news. “We’re probably better placed than other parts of Australia to keep those markets, but of course a lot of our tourism is regional, so it’s coming in from Southeast Asia, China, Singapore, a significantly growing, Indian market and none of those people have to go through the Middle East.” Travel from India spiked nearly 50 per cent from 2024 to 2025, becoming WA’s sixth biggest market by visitors. Singaporean and Chinese travel also grew year-on-year, with the latter’s total spend increasing by 66 per cent to $503 million. Professor Holmes said WA remained well placed in terms of fuel supply but uncertainty was leading “In the short term, there’s absolutely no need to panic, in the long term, I don’t think there’s a need to panic either, it’s just that there might probably need some adjustments and changes,” she said. “Of course, we don’t know how long this will go on, I mean how long’s a piece of string? I think that’s what’s got people jittery more than the reality of what’s going on is that uncertainty which makes you feel uncertain.”