Tourism Minister Paul Papalia said Tourism WA's plan will give the state "a tourism boom," with $425 million committed to the sector over the next five years for destination marketing and events.

"With more than 2000 additional hotel rooms opening in the CBD and greater Perth in the past five years and a further 2000 rooms either committed or under construction, now is the time to strike by increasing visitor numbers."

The plan calls for attracting "more overseas direct flights to Perth, aggressive brand and co-operative marketing, and securing and hosting major travel trade events and growing the number of cruises homeporting in WA".

There's also emphasis on using the new Optus Stadium to attract visitors to events, and to launch a yet to be named event for the city in 2019.

Evan Hall from the Tourism Council of WA said the industry was thoroughly consulted during the plan's creation, and the emphasis on events was long overdue.

"We have a beautiful state here, but a very passive, kind of DIY way of experiencing it. But you bring in an event then it changes the game," he said.

"You can't buy a ticket to Kings Park or Cottesloe beach. But if we create services to get people to these places then we can build up our sector very quickly.

"We like the emphasis on allowing the private sector the ability to create events and experiences. So if there's a deckchair at Cottelsoe beach with a glass of champagne at sunset we can sell to a visitor as part of a package then that's a good development."

Mr Hall also said Optus Stadium must be used to drive visitor numbers - and that no expense should be spared to make it a magnet for tourism.

"We spent $1.5 billion building one of the best stadiums in Australia, you don't then shy on spending a million to get an event there. If we spent a tenth of what we paid to build it on events then we'd be laughing."

The state opposition has slammed the new strategy though, with Shadow Tourism Minister Libby Mettam saying it's "all plan and no action".

“This smacks of a plan cobbled together at the last minute in response to the freefall in tourist numbers that has happened since the McGowan government came into office,” Ms Mettam said.

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“Every other state in Australia is seeing their tourism numbers increasing and unless Mark McGowan follows their lead and recommits to a full-time CEO and marketing officer, tourism in WA will not get the focus or expertise it needs to rebound from this slump.

“I was at the launch of the plan today and I heard a lot of concern from tourism stakeholders about the McGowan government’s decision to make the position of CEO for Tourism WA redundant.”

Mr Hall echoed this concern, pointing out the CEO position was currently filled on a part-time basis by the Director General of the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science & Innovation, who has no prior experience in tourism.

"This is a crucial position and we need dedicated leadership ideally by someone with industry experience," he said.

"This person should be made diurectly responsible for bringing this plan through and their performance should be measured against it."

- with AAP