All eyes are on Western Australia's tourism industry to provide the state's next economic bonanza.

No pressure.

But it has been a shocker of a year for the sector with a 12.7-per-cent drop in interstate visitor numbers sparking alarm.

And despite international tourist numbers seeing a modest increase, it was not in line with other states.

The Government says it is time for a new approach; less emphasis on long-term branding initiatives and more effort and funding towards immediate, practical measures to get bums on plane seats headed direct to Perth.

But many in the industry believe solutions can be found much closer to home by focusing on the domestic market.

So what's the feeling among operators tasked with the WA economy's great leap forward?

The bus driver

Tour bus driver Jonathan del Pino said he'd seen onboard numbers drop. ( ABC News: Charlotte Hamlyn )

Jonathan del Pino's double decker bus tour of Perth city leaves from Barrack Square three times a day.

He loves his job.

"The people are really friendly," he says.

"Everybody is in holiday mode, you get lots of people who are quite excited.

"It's really great."

But there aren't as many people on board as there once were.

"Last year and this year we have noticed the numbers have dropped quite a bit," Mr del Pino says.

"We just assume it is because of the economy. I guess people's income has changed.

"It's a luxury to jump on one of these things, not a necessity."

The accommodation provider

Business owner Allison Manners from Beach Stays Australia in Cottesloe. Date: October, 2017. ( ABC News: Charlotte Hamlyn )

Allison Manners owns a short-stay accommodation business in Perth's western suburbs.

In the past year she's experienced a 15-per-cent drop off in occupancy rates.

"It certainly has been the most challenging year I've known over a decade of being in business," Ms Manners says.

"It's been one that I would like to not see repeated."

She wants to see Tourism WA shift its marketing approach in order to halt the decline.

"We need to be competitive in a digital space and dynamic and agile," she says.

"We have the most outstanding product but we are being left behind by our neighbouring states because their independent marketing skills are excellent and innovative."

The park operator

Caversham Wildlife Park owner David Thorne says Asian tourists have swelled numbers for his operation. ( ABC News: Charlotte Hamlyn )

David Thorne runs the Caversham Wildlife Park, where tourists flock to pat kangaroos and koalas.

In contrast to other operators, he says his numbers have seen a steady increase and he has plans to double the size of his park in coming years.

He puts it down to his focus on Asia — he spends four months a year in China trying to convince people to visit Perth.

But he says it's about the long game.

"You build the relationship and things start following," Mr Thorne says.

"You have to look to a five-year minimum period.

"Australia looks six months ahead but things don't happen that quick."

The tourism entrepreneur

Adventure tourism entrepreneur Mack McCormack at Elizabeth Quay. ( ABC News: Charlotte Hamlyn )

Mack McCormack is the man behind a number of adventure tourism initiatives in WA, and he's working on proposals for more big-ticket attractions.

But he is frustrated by the amount of red tape that he comes up against.

He has spent eight years trying to get a permanent license to operate sea planes on the Swan River.

And said private investors are forced to jump through too many hoops to get projects off the ground.

"The east does it so well. There is an array of things for people to do so people have a reason to get out of their hotels and move around and have fun and hopefully come back again," Mr McCormack says.

"Here's it's dullsville.

"We've got government employees who are so concerned in regards to making a decision that they just drag it out and make any approval commercially non-viable.

"Their plan is for you to get frustrated, give it away, run out of money, go broke."

The bureaucrats

Tourism Minister Paul Papalia wants to boost direct flights from Asia to Perth. ( ABC News: Andrew O'Connor )

Tourism Minister Paul Papalia admits he is not happy with the current state of the tourism sector, in particular, the fact that Asian tourists are choosing to holiday in the eastern states.

"We're the ones that sell them the iron ore, the gas and the grain and yet they're going to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, even Tasmania," he says.

He says reducing red tape is on the agenda.

But his immediate priority is to boost the number of direct flights to Perth from Asia.

He will travel to Japan later this month in an attempt to secure an agreement with airline JAL.

"We're much closer to the subcontinent than the east coast and yet people are flying over the top of us to go there," the Minister says.

"Right now we have a very clear mission, we must get more visitors here in the near term to fill our hotel rooms and grow jobs.

"It's a very simple equation."

WA Tourism Council chief executive Evan Hall says WA needs to offer people "experiences". ( ABC News: Charlotte Hamlyn )

The Tourism Council's Evan Hall agrees more direct flights will help.

But he has long argued Tourism WA's destination marketing attempts have been inadequate and says more needs to be done to convince overseas tourists to board flights in the first instance.

"We can't just rely on the zoo and Rottnest Island and Kings Park and so on to drive that interest," he says.

"We've got to create new things.

"People are looking for very immersive experiences, something they can go home and brag about, they're the ones we need to get up and running."

Mr Hall says the mining boom has left WA with a reputation for being overly expensive — a legacy that will be a challenge to overcome.

"That's changed, our hotel prices are considerably cheaper and at the same time Sydney and Melbourne hotel prices are going up," he says.

"But we're not getting the message out that we're a great place to visit."

The expert

Curtin University Associate Professor Kirsten Holmes says WA should focus on the local tourism market. ( ABC News: Charlotte Hamlyn )

Tourism marketing expert Kirsten Holmes says if the Government is serious about turning the visitor numbers around, it needs to focus more of its attention on the domestic market.

"The Government and Tourism WA have done an enormous job to target the Chinese market, " Professor Holmes says.

"It's the local tourists who are being neglected."

"Our biggest market is people in WA going on holiday in WA.

"I think we really need to see a more pluralistic approach to tourism policy and tourism marketing."