Western Australia has achieved a historic milestone, welcoming 1.024 million international visitors in the 12 months to October 2025 – the highest number ever recorded in the state. This surpasses the pre-COVID benchmark of 996,000 arrivals and marks full recovery of WA’s tourism sector.
New data from Tourism Research Australia shows WA led the nation in international tourism recovery, recording the largest year-on-year increase in overseas visitor numbers and fully recovering two years ahead of national forecasts.
The record growth has been driven by major events such as WWE: Crown Jewel and the Bledisloe Cup, investment in Aboriginal tourism experiences, the return of cruise tourism to 160% of pre-COVID levels, and global marketing campaigns including Walking On A Dream and Drive the Dream with Daniel Ricciardo.
WA’s expanded aviation network now connects the state to 20 global cities via 24 international airlines, with international seat capacity at 131% of January 2019 levels.
Tourism remains a key economic driver, supporting over 120,000 jobs and more than 30,000 tourism and hospitality businesses across WA.
This milestone highlights the success of the WA Government’s economic diversification strategy and sets the stage for continued growth in the state’s visitor economy.
Comments attributed to Tourism Minister Reece Whitby:
“More than a million international visitors in a year is an incredible achievement, and to not only deliver international visitor recovery ahead of the nation, but exceed it by 28,000 visitors, is a phenomenal result for Western Australia.
“These are incredible results, but the work is just getting started. We’re committed to driving further growth in the tourism sector and delivering on our government’s economic diversification strategy, to grow the wider economy and create more tourism and hospitality jobs for Western Australians.
“Thanks to our global brand cutting through the competitive world stage, and a strong conversion and trade focus helping deliver more bookings, we’ve achieved what no other State has managed, and put our tourism industry back in the strong position it was in before the COVID-19 pandemic, and ready to hit the new heights set out in our 10-year plan for tourism.
“This achievement shows the Cook Government’s investment in tourism is working, whether its promoting WA abroad with an award-winning brand, securing blockbuster events, increasing aviation connectivity, creating sustainable Aboriginal tourism experiences, or activating the regions through new cruise and accommodation options, the visitor economy is growing.”
