You're in Perth for the weekend, and what better way to begin your visit than with a walk down to Elizabeth Quay to board the cable car up to Kings Park.

You marvel at sweeping views across Perth and the Swan River as far as the eye can see, as you pass by the massive white pylons holding up the structure on your climb to the top of the hill.

After a stroll around the park you head back down to the river bank to try your hand at some surfing. You don't have to worry about the wave conditions — the surf is always up at the artificial wave park.

From there, it's just an hour's drive north-east to the lush, green valleys of the Avon River. The loud trumpet of an elephant signals your destination isn't far off.

You soon see the source of the noise, accompanied by a giraffe that traverses majestically along the river bank — it's all part of Perth's open range zoo.

At least, that is how your weekend could have looked in a parallel universe if a few of Perth's axed attractions had ever gone ahead.

There's debate over whether fixed or flexible attractions offer the most for WA tourism. ( Supplied: Florence Roca )

Events take over attractions

Where once WA's tourism strategy followed the "build it and they will come" mantra, an altogether different approach to attracting visitors has taken shape.

The McGowan Labor Government has stamped its mark on tourism by favouring big names and events that make use of the new $1.6 billion Perth Stadium — most recently a Manchester United soccer game and State of Origin rugby match — over permanent attractions.

Securing Manchester United was a major coup by the State Government, which saw visitors flock from all over the world. ( AAP: Tony McDonough )

By the metrics, the plan is working.

The latest data by Tourism Research Australia showed domestic travellers spent $7.8 billion in WA in the 12 months to the end of March, a 24 per cent increase that represented a $1.5 billion economic boost.

Domestic visitor numbers for the 12-month period were up 10 per cent, matching a trend seen across the country.

But there remain calls for more support for permanent attractions to make Perth an enticing destination in the long term.

Zoo scrapped before election

The open range zoo was promised by the former Liberal government in late 2016 but was scrapped when Labor came to power a year later.

Former premier Colin Barnett had big plans for a zoo in the Avon Valley. ( ABC News: Andrew O'Connor )

For Peter Nott, it amounted to a missed opportunity.

Mr Nott runs the Moondyne Country Convention Centre on which the zoo would have been placed, in a style similar to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo located in the New South Wales town of Dubbo.

A baby elephant runs around the grounds of the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, NSW. ( Supplied: Taronga Zoo )

"We'd known about it for about 18 months, it was really exciting to think it was going ahead," he said.

"It would have been fantastic for the tourism in the area.

"But it was such a pity, it's a beautiful spot, it has the space, it has the closeness to the city.

"So it would have been great to see it happen … and that would have been great for the people of Perth to have something so close."

Peter Nott said the zoo would have been a major tourism drawcard. ( ABC News: Benjamin Gubana )

Fixed attractions 'key to growth'

That sentiment is echoed by the Tourism Council WA (TCWA), which wanted to see more fixed attractions and innovative ideas supported and approved by the Government.

"Things like the cable car/zip line from Kings Park, a wave park along the river, these are all great ideas but they've never come to fruition," TCWA chief executive Evan Hall said.

Evan Hall said more support was needed for permanent attractions in WA. ( ABC News: Benjamin Gubana )

"Attractions are critical. Most of these attractions are for the people of Perth, for Western Australia to enjoy, and what we're really looking for are new experiences.

"We have plenty of fantastic land set aside in the city for bowling greens along the river and tennis clubs, but no ropes courses or zip lines.

"The State Government doesn't have to choose between events and fixed attractions, but it's the private investment in attractions that don't require taxpayer funding that will actually bring in the majority of the visitors in the long-term."

Economic analysis commissioned by the TCWA showed a wave park would create 72 full time equivalent jobs and add $800,000 to state revenue.

A cable car to Kings Park would create 363 full time equivalent jobs and add $4.8 million to state revenue.

The cable car could run from Elizabeth Quay to Kings Park. ( Supplied: Mike Edwards Architecture )

"You need those attractions there because events are very seasonal, they're one-off," Mr Hall said.

"What you need is attractions which are going to keep people coming 24/7, 365 days a year — that [are] always available, always a reason to travel to Perth and Western Australia.

"We haven't had a major attraction approved in over 20 years. We're well behind other capital cities."

The TCWA points to attractions such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb, Peninsula Hot Springs in Victoria and the MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) in Hobart, which have become signature experiences.

Since 1998, more than four million people have climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. ( ABC News: Supplied. )

"The international market we're still trying to crack and make sure those visitors come back, but the State Government has invested more in international marketing, it's put in a significant boost and we're pretty confident that's going to turn into more results.

"But at the end of the day you can only market so much and you can only buy so many events. You've got to have reasons to travel that are inherent to the destination."

Waving goodbye to a surf park

A wave park along the Swan River was one of the key projects the WATC wanted to see get off the ground.

A similar such attraction went close to being approved in Melville until the State Government refused to hand over a parcel of Crown land for the project.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 24 seconds 1 m 24 s Melville Wave park proposed by developer Urbnsurf

Andrew Ross from Urbnsurf, the proponent of the wave park, said he was disappointed the project was rejected at the last minute.

"The process itself took almost three years until we received word from the Government that they were not prepared to support the project at that site," he said.

"It was very much 'not in my backyard', there was no technical reason whatsoever for the project not to be developed there.

"[I was] absolutely stunned and dismayed that, if the Government didn't want us at that location, they hadn't made a decision prior to that to save us the time and effort."

Andrew Ross said it was disappointing the wave park was rejected at the last minute. ( ABC News: Benjamin Gubana )

Mr Ross said there should be more support for the private sector wanting to invest in the city.

"We started our Melbourne project at the same time that we commenced our Perth project and we're just about to turn the wave generator on in Melbourne … and yet we're still trying to find a site here in Perth," he said.

"I think it shows some of the differences between doing business on the east coast and the west coast."

The argument for flex over fixed

The WA Government has created a new framework to help businesses navigate bureaucratic red tape.

But Professor Kirsten Holmes from Curtin University's School of Marketing said flexible, not fixed, attractions offered the biggest opportunity for the sector.

"I think the recent tourism figures show that the emphasis on events, and big-scale drawcard events that have an appeal far beyond WA, has been pretty successful," she said.

Roger Federer's quokka selfie went viral on Instagram. ( Instagram: Roger Federer )

"Fixed attractions do attract outside markets as well. The challenge with a fixed attraction is it's expensive to put in place with the infrastructure, you have ongoing fixed costs which you don't have so much with events and festivals.

"We see this with theme parks … every year they've got to have something new, or something different — they've got to keep attracting people to come back.

"Whereas an event or festival is always new, attracting people back and that is, I think, where that flexibility really helps."