The far-flung pearling town of Broome has become Australia's new gateway to Asia with the start of direct flights to Singapore.

Four hours after leaving Southeast Asia's bustling hub, about 80 tourists landed on the edge of some of the most isolated country in the world.

Stepping off the Silk Air plane, traveller Florence Tang said it was a stark contrast to where she had come from.

"It is really nature. Most of the time we go and see other cities and Singapore itself is a city," she said.

"We really don't know what we are going to see, but we are looking forward to it."

Fellow tourist Sandy Choo said she was already appreciating the open spaces.

"It's very rare to have the outdoors, fresh air … we don't have camels, dolphins, nice sunset, open sky, so this is a novelty for Singaporeans," she said.

"I've already told my colleagues about Broome. They're very envious."

The maiden voyage is the first of four trial flights over the next two weeks set up to attract more overseas tourists to the rugged outback region.

It comes at a time when the state's tourism industry is experiencing a drop in spending from overseas visitors.

About 80 passengers travelled on the Tuesday afternoon flight to Broome. ( ABC Kimberley: Matt Bamford )

Solution to a slump?

Western Australia is the only state or territory to see tourist numbers slide in recent times, according to figures from Tourism Research Australia.

International visitor spending dropped by $120 million, or 5 per cent, in the 12 months to December, and visitor numbers were down by 940,000.

In response, the State Government and industry providers have doubled their efforts to sell Western Australia as a must-see destination.

They are trying to shake the perception that WA is expensive and hard-to-reach, with strategies that include pairing selfie-loving celebrities with quokkas and kick-starting direct flights from Perth to London.

The backers of this latest initiative hope it will help bring tourist numbers back up.

New ties with Asia

Shire of Broome President Harold Tracey believes the flights will propel the town's historic ties with Asia into a new era.

In the future, it is hoped the trickle of tourists will build into a lucrative flow of business investors buying into 'Broome-time'.

"To be right at the coal face of one of the next exciting chapters in north-west economic development, I think that is a real big game changer for us," Cr Tracey said.

Local businesses hope Broome's natural attractions, such as Cable Beach, will be exposed to a wider market. ( Supplied: Robert Dunlop )

"[For] businesses and prospective organisations to have that access to the Asian market is also very exciting, so along with tourism I think investment and economic growth for us is a real big opportunity."

One lucrative market for the town on Asia's doorstep is the company reward trip, according to Perth-based tourism operator Meng Wong, from Blue Travel Proprietary Limited.

In countries like Singapore and Malaysia, he said, it was common for managing directors to take their staff on a company reward trip at the end of the financial year.

"We are talking about thousands of companies scattered over the region," he said.

"At the end of every year — tax deductible mind you — the company managing director will tend to want to take the company staff as an end of the year reward trip, and Western Australia is very ready for that and the potential for this segment alone is huge."

Singaporean visitors received a formal welcome and celebration at Broome Airport. ( ABC Kimberley: Emily Jane Smith )

Cutting travel time to Europe

Proponents of the trial also want to entice visitors from Australia's traditional tourist sources in Europe and the United Kingdom.

Until this week, these visitors could only fly to the Kimberley via major cities such as Sydney or Perth, adding five or so hours to what can be one of the longest hauls in the world.

Australia's North West Tourism chief executive Glen Chidlow said this was one of the key advantages of basing the trial out of Singapore.

"The beauty of Singapore is that it is a true international hub … it has linkages to so many different parts of the world, so it means people can fly into Singapore and then directly into the Kimberley," he said.

"It just enables us to tap into those markets that already exist, particularly the European markets."