ABSTRACT
This chapter describes wine and tourism, and ultimately, food, wine and tourism, in Australia and Western Australia (WA) since the state hosted the First Australian Wine Tourism Conference Wine Tourism: Perfect Partners in 1998. It summarises the present position in regard to the importance of food and wine tourism in WA for Chinese tourists. In WA the top six source markets of international visitors are the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States of America, New Zealand and China. Australia has experienced faster international arrivals and expenditure growth from China than from any other market. Chinese visitors to Australia who are 'free and independent travellers' are growing in number. In recent times Tourism Australia has conducted further research into understanding the Chinese market. Food and wine tourism is an important element in the visitor experience in Western Australia. Prospective Chinese tourists are increasingly interested in Margaret River as a destination due its reputation for good wine and food.
