Perth's Reputation Survey Results

The Committee for Perth has commissioned an independent report into Perth’s reputation and how locals and external stakeholders see the region as a place to live, work, study, visit and invest. The report benchmarks Perth against Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland and Singapore and features insights from residents and business leaders.

The report was undertaken with the support of the private sector as part of the Hashtag Perth project, which aims to develop a plan for how best to leverage Perth’s positive attributes and address its weaknesses.

Key Findings

• Perth has a strong reputation among its own residents, but they are also far less likely to recommend Perth when compared to residents of Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Auckland and Singapore.
• Perth’s reputation amongst external sources out performs Auckland and Singapore and is on par with Brisbane and Sydney. Of the cities surveyed Melbourne consistently had the best reputation across all measurables.
• Perth’s most well-loved attribute – by both locals and visitors - is its natural environment and physical attractiveness.
• Perth locals are not strong advocates for their city – they enjoy living, working and studying here but are slow to recommend it to others.
• Perth is recommended among external business leaders as a place to invest. It is equally as appealing as Melbourne and Sydney and more appealing than Brisbane, Auckland and Singapore.
• However, Perth’s local business leaders underperform as advocates for the region. They are far less likely to recommend Perth as a place to invest when compared with business leaders in all other surveyed cities
• External business influencers rate Perth highly as a place to invest. In fact, it is equally as appealing as Melbourne and Sydney and more appealing than Brisbane, Auckland and Singapore.
• People who have experienced Perth are far more likely to recommend it than those who have never visited.
• Because experience is key to reputational uplift, one of the key ways to strengthen Perth’s reputation is to ensure it is easily accessible – ie. direct flights, diverse accommodation options and high-quality public transport.
• Of all the residents surveyed, Singaporeans were the most positive about Perth. Committee for Perth feels there is a strong opportunity here to increase tourism and business investment.
• Because of the critical role experience plays in improving perceptions of Perth, Committee for Perth would like to see a closer association between tourism strategies and those strategies focussed on increasing investment, migration and students into the region.