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New Tourism WA board chairman sees appointment as a ‘once in a generational opportunity’

Denise S. CahillEastern Reporter

NEW Tourism WA board chairman Nathan Harding sees his appointment as a “once in a generational opportunity”.

The Subiaco resident said Perth had been transformed, with many long-term projects either finished or near completion.

“There are a number of structures that take a lot of time to put in place and they have come together,” Mr Harding said.

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“The transformation of Perth includes Elizabeth Quay, Scarborough and Perth City Link which means we have a new product to sell.

“There are more hotel rooms coming up and the Australian dollar is doing well.”

Mr Harding is most excited about opportunities around the new Perth Stadium.

He said the east coast had the State of Origin, Bledisloe Cup and other significant events that Perth could not previously bid for.

“Now we’ll be able to bring a lot of people across who haven’t been here for a long time… when coffee was expensive and hotel rooms were sparse.”

Mr Harding has been in the tourism industry for 20 years, buying Discover Australia Holidays when it was just a small family business.

He said the industry was marketing the same places – Margaret River, Monkey Mia, the Kimberley, Fremantle and Rottnest Island – 20 years ago that it was now.

Back then, Mr Harding used brochures to promote the state but has since made use of his electronic engineering degree to improve technology in the industry.

“We were one of the first businesses to have an email address, even before the state government,” Mr Harding said.

“Technology is important for us to give us an advantage and we’ve used it to get ahead.”

Mr Harding said one of the challenges for Tourism WA was ensuring the surge of hotel rooms coming up were full now and in the future.

“There are lots of hotel rooms coming up in a short period of time and that’s because people have confidence in the medium term,” he said.

“For us there’s a challenge to do what we can to help fill those rooms as much as we can.”

WA’s tourism industry employs 109,000 people, up 12,000 in the past year.

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