Margaret River a star in new Chinese travel advertising campaign from Tourism WA

Margaret River could soon be welcoming a new wave of Chinese visitors after the State Government last week revived its major tourism campaign for the country’s biggest trade partner.

Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti and Tourism WA said the Walking On A Dream campaign would extend to mainland China as part of a continued rollout across global markets.

As well as public advertising, the campaign partnered with Chinese social media platform Douyin and Mafengwo, the equivalent of Tripadvisor, as well as travel companies to offer package deals Down Under.

“China is one of our most important tourism markets and this launch is perfectly timed to capitalise on the recent announcement of non-stop flights resuming between WA and China,” Ms Saffioti said.

“Partnerships with local social media and tourism operators form a critical part of selling WA to the world and the launch in China will ensure we continue the momentum of keeping WA top of mind for travellers seeking extraordinary destinations.”

Many Margaret River wineries have sought to re-enter the once-major market after a three-year hiatus triggered by a trade war which killed exports.

A spokesperson for the minister confirmed the Margaret River region occupied a key role in the latest promotion, which included advertising images from Leeuwin Estate and the Boranup Forest, in Douyin, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Margaret River-Busselton Tourism Association chief executive Sharna Kearney applauded continued efforts to rebuild the prized international visitor market.

“International markets, while only making up a small proportion of total visitation to our region of around 10 per cent or 150,000 visitors, are important for building off-peak visitation and smoothing seasonality,” she said.

“While our region’s largest international markets are the UK and Singapore, China is an emerging market.”

Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Australia this week for the first high-level visit in seven years signalling a thaw in trade relations.