Former US secretary of state John Kerry to come to Perth for world tourism event

Former US secretary of State John Kerry will headline a major international tourism conference, to be hosted in Perth next month. Secretary Kerry, who was also the unsuccessful Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, will join environmentalist Robert Irwin as a keynote speaker at the World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit at Crown in October. Kerry served as US Secretary of State between 2013 and 2017 under Barack Obama and was also the first Special Presidential Envoy for Climate under President Joe Biden. The summit, which is being hosted in Australia for the first time this year, will see 200 world industry leaders from organisations like Emirates, Etihad Airways, Expedia and Visa descend on Perth. Secretary Kerry and Mr Irwin join a speaking list which also includes business leaders and chief executives from Tripadvisor, American Express, Trip.com and Intrepid Travel. Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti said the summit would showcase Western Australia to the tourism world as an investment hotspot and growing global aviation hub. “Securing John Kerry for this world-renowned conference is a huge coup for Western Australia, and we’re really excited to see the incredible insight and experience he will share with the hundreds of business and tourism leaders who attend,” she said. “Hosting this summit for the first time in Australia is an amazing opportunity for us to showcase Western Australia’s natural beauty to some of the most influential and important tourism leaders in the world, while also elevating new tourism investment opportunities. “Of course, with business delegate spend generally being up to five times more than the average leisure visitor, there are also major economic benefits to be realised from events like WTTC, which is why we continue to invest and focus on attracting these to WA alongside our other major events.”