New Burswood stadium could be tourist windfall

Perth’s new 60,000-seat stadium in Burswood, will not be open until 2018. But the WA Tourism Council is already negotiating to bring international sports and entertainment events to be held there.

The idea is to overtake the Gold Coast as Australia’s fourth most popular destination.

According to an economic impact report by AEC Group, commissioned by the WA Tourism Council, the stadium could inject $291 million a year into the city’s economy. It would also single-handedly create 1,390 extra jobs in hospitality, retail, public transport, air travel, arts, entertainment and sports.

The report stresses the importance of ensuring that visitors from outside WA can be guaranteed access to these events. It recommends that for any event,10,000 seats should be for general admission, and at least 2,000 be set aside for intestate and overseas visitors.

This way it could consistently attract large-scale international entertainment and sports events. The WA Tourism Council is pushing for WA to bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games against Adelaide and Newcastle.