Western Australia pulls out 'big guns'in Aussie battle for Chinese visitor

PERTH, Australia, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) --- The Australian boom- state of Western Australia (WA) has fired the first shots in Australia's escalating publicity blitz to attract the critical Chinese tourism market.

Western Australia has been stealing headlines as Australia's renegade economic miracle but it is also the country's largest state and boasts an extraordinary array of secrets for the Chinese tourist to discover.

According to the department of Western Australian tourism, almost 20 new itineraries designed specifically for Chinese visitors has been rolled out as part of a co-operative marketing campaign between Tourism Western Australia, China Southern Airlines and Tourism Australia.

WA's Tourism Minister Kim Hames told Xinhua the itineraries were part of a broader 4 million Australian dollar partnership between the three organizations and aimed at introducing the " delights of WA to more and more Chinese friends." "China is a very important tourism market to WA, with Chinese visitation growing 43.3 percent to 27,800 visitors for the year ending June 2012," Dr Hames said.

Recommended Features: A Decade of Fastest Development Eastern Boom Lightens Western Gloom Oct. data released, inflation slows Gold collection issued to mark 'Year of Snake' China: A Fast- growing Force in IPR 13th Int'l Automobile Industry Exhibition China Int'l Industry Fair opens in Shanghai Caofeidian coal wharf put into use Canton Fair wraps up on Sunday