Tourism WA’s Accreditation Policy was announced in 2007 to encourage a greater number of tourism businesses to become accredited, thereby improving the quality of visitor experiences.
The policy went into full effect on 1 July 2010 when all tourism businesses that provide accommodation, attractions, tour, hire or transport must be accredited to Australian Tourism Accreditation Standards (or higher) to benefit from Tourism WA's marketing investment for Western Australia as a holiday destination.
Tourism accreditation is based on quality assurance principles, designed to enhance tourism businesses while also improving industry standards.
Tourism accreditation provides consumers with the confidence to make informed choices about the legitimacy and quality of a tourism product.
Benefits of accreditation for tourism operators can include:
- An improved reputation in the tourism market place
- Greater customer satisfaction and confidence which leads to repeat business
- More effective management and improved employee morale
- A competitive advantage over non-accredited operators
- Improved profitability through the implementation of better operating systems
- Ability to display the relevant accreditation program’s logo on all promotional and marketing material.
The Australian Tourism Accreditation Standard is the national quality assurance program established by Tourism Accreditation Australia Limited (TAAL) to encourage excellence in the tourism industry. For a list of accreditation programs visit www.tourismaccreditation.org.au.
While all TAAL approved programs are acknowledged by Tourism WA, Tourism Council Western Australia (TCWA), the peak tourism industry body in Western Australia, delivers the Australian Tourism Accreditation Program (ATAP) program in this State.
For more information on the TAAL accreditation programs, please visit the following:
T-QUAL Accreditation 
T-QUAL Accreditation is the Australian Government’s partnership with quality tourism accreditation, rating and certification programs. It has been introduced to elevate and standardise quality across the industry to ensure the sustainability of Australia’s tourism.
Programs that are T-QUAL endorsed have undergone a thorough quality review to ensure their assessment standards reach T-QUAL’s federal and national quality benchmark. Businesses who are members of these programs are, by default, eligible for T-QUAL endorsement which entitles them to utilise the T-QUAL Tick in their marketing.
The T-QUAL Tick is an easily recognisable, national symbol of quality that consumers can look for when making Australian travel bookings. T-QUAL endorsed businesses that display the T-QUAL Tick will benefit from:
Increased quality standards across the Australian tourism industry
Immediate and ongoing boost to credibility
Marketing that encourages consumers to book their products
Increased national and international exposure
Preferential listing on the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) distribution network such as Australia.com (for businesses that are a part of the ATDW)
Increased online distribution via a partnership with Trip Advisor
A competitive advantage that is likely to increase consumer take-up
Find out how to gain T-QUAL Accreditation
Download more information:
Information for tourism industry (PDF, 157KB)
Information for tourism businesses and operators (PDF, 156KB)
Information for Accreditation program providers (PDF, 184KB)
Accredited Visitor Centres 
Visitor Centres are a first port of call for travellers wanting to explore
Western Australia.
Services provided by visitor centres include maps and travel advice, accommodation and tour bookings and local knowledge on the destination
you are visiting.
To ensure visitor servicing is maintained at the highest level, the National Tourism Accreditation Program operates Visitor Centre Accreditation.
Accredited visitor centres are branded with the italic ‘i’. This is the symbol associated with Accredited Visitor Centres across Australia.
The symbol is used in a wide range of tourism, travel and general interest advertisement and promotional materials to demonstrate that the visitor centre is accredited.
For more information on Visitor Centre accreditation, please contact the Tourism Council of WA on (08) 9416 0706.
Download checklist:
Visitor Centre accreditation requirements checklist (PDF, 44.5KB)