The City of Swan is committed to developing sustainable economic growth for its residents and ratepayers so they can enjoy a thriving and vibrant City.
To achieve this, we’re investing in the City to attract new businesses, improve employment opportunities closer to home and boost community wellbeing.
This gives our community convenient access to a range of local services, including retail, health and education.
The Economic key result area (KRA) covers three main goals:
- Thriving local businesses and vibrant activity centres
- Diverse employment opportunities and economic growth
- A leading tourism and visitor destination.
| Objective | Measure | Target | How we are tracking |
|---|---|---|---|
|
E1.1 Actively support and develop thriving local businesses and centres |
Percentage of businesses that indicate they like owning a business in the City |
Maintain or increase |
84 per cent in 2025 90 per cent in 2024 |
| E1.1 Actively support and develop thriving local businesses and centres | Percentage of businesses that indicate it is easy to do business with the City |
Achieve at least per cent |
58 per cent in 2025 70 per cent in 2024 |
|
E2.1 Advocate and attract business and investment opportunities |
Value of non-residential private sector investment in the City |
Maintain or increase $104M |
$302,363,878 in 2024-25 $339,542,542 in 2024-25 |
| E2.1 Advocate and attract business and investment opportunities | Gross regional product |
Maintain or increase $9.4B |
$13.91B in 2025 $12.36B in 2024 |
|
E3.1 Strengthen the capacity and integration of the tourism industry |
Total number of visitors per annum to the Swan Valley |
Increase 4.25M baseline |
4.4M in 2024 5.4M in 2019-20 |
| E3.1 Strengthen the capacity and integration of the tourism industry | Annual visitor expenditure to the Swan Valley |
Increase $426M baseline |
$544M in 2024 $430M in 2019-20 |
| E3.1 Strengthen the capacity and integration of the tourism industry | Percentage of visitors to the Swan Valley who rate their experience as positive overall |
Maintain above 93 per cent |
93 per cent in 2024 87 per cent in 2021-22 |
Thriving local businesses and vibrant activity centres
The City maintains a supportive environment to help local businesses grow, thrive and reach their full potential.
We have a range of programs and initiatives in place to boost business capacity, including:
- Building business skills and capability
- Connecting and supporting new and existing businesses
- Boosting local visibility and market reach.
We are strengthening the operational and strategic capability of local businesses through dedicated skills development, training and support programs. This includes the Business Training Program, Small Business Friendly LG initiatives, and the Swan Jobs Expo, all designed to uplift digital capability, compliance knowledge, workforce access and business planning.
We are also embedding age-friendly, dementia-friendly and inclusive employment approaches to help businesses broaden their customer base and workforce options.
Connecting and supporting new and existing businesses
We are providing clearer information and more targeted support through the modernised new business welcoming process and strengthened partnerships with the Swan Chamber of Commerce. This includes improved point-of-entry guidance and advice for new operators, ensuring businesses begin with the tools they need for success. The refreshed Business Directory further improves visibility and supports networking across the local economy.
Boosting local visibility and market reach
We are expanding demand for local businesses through the Love Your Local campaign, enhanced digital promotion, and the Disability Employment Initiative – which lifts community participation and supports inclusive recruitment.
We are reviewing the City’s Buy Local procurement policy to create more opportunities for local suppliers and improve economic circulation within activity centres.
- 84 percent of businesses indicated they like owning a business in the City of Swan (target 79 per cent or above)
- 58 percent of businesses indicated that it is easy to do business with the City (target 50 per cent or above ).
We are finalising a business advocacy model to support and attract businesses to the area.
The City will continue to boost local business through grants, support and sustainability initiatives such as the Buy Local program and Small Business Friendly Local Government Program.
Diverse employment opportunities and economic growth
The City of Swan has many investment opportunities, so we have plans and actions in place to drive economic development and job creation to support our growing community.
We support economic and employment growth by promoting investment opportunities and enhancing our marketing to:
- Advocate and lobby all levels of government for major infrastructure investment
- Support the implementation of WA’s growth plans.
We are strengthening the operational and strategic capability of local businesses through dedicated skills development, training and support programs. This includes the Business Training Program, Small Business Friendly LG initiatives, and the Swan Jobs Expo, all designed to uplift digital capability, compliance knowledge, workforce access and business planning.
We are also embedding age-friendly, dementia-friendly and inclusive employment approaches to help businesses broaden their customer base and workforce options.
Connecting and supporting new and existing businesses
We are providing clearer information and more targeted support through the modernised new business welcoming process and strengthened partnerships with the Swan Chamber of Commerce. This includes improved point-of-entry guidance and advice for new operators, ensuring businesses begin with the tools they need for success. The refreshed Business Directory further improves visibility and supports networking across the local economy.
Boosting local visibility and market reach
We are expanding demand for local businesses through the Love Your Local campaign, enhanced digital promotion, and the Disability Employment Initiative – which lifts community participation and supports inclusive recruitment.
We are reviewing the City’s Buy Local procurement policy to create more opportunities for local suppliers and improve economic circulation within activity centres.
- 84 percent of businesses indicated they like owning a business in the City of Swan (target 79 per cent or above)
- 58 percent of businesses indicated that it is easy to do business with the City (target 50 per cent or above ).
We are finalising a business advocacy model to support and attract businesses to the area.
The City will continue to boost local business through grants, support and sustainability initiatives such as the Buy Local program and Small Business Friendly Local Government Program.
A leading tourism and visitor destination
The Swan Valley is the oldest wine region in Western Australia and one of the biggest tourism destinations in Perth.
It attracts interstate and international visitors who enjoy the Swan Valley’s vibrant produce and experiences.
We ensure business and tourism growth across the City by:
- Strengthening the visitor economy and tourism capacity
- Enhancing visitor insights and product development
- Expanding visitor experiences and market reach.
Strengthening the visitor economy and tourism capacity
We are supporting tourism operators by elevating Swan’s identity and improving product quality and visitor insights.This includes the Old Vine Charter, loyalty gift cards, refreshed publications, updated trails, Experience Perth Hills initiatives and targeted marketing campaigns that increase foot traffic and expand the customer base of tourism, retail and hospitality businesses.
Enhancing visitor insights and product development
We are delivering the Visitor Research Study to equip businesses with data on visitor preferences and behaviour, enabling smarter investment in experiences, events and product development.
We are also developing a Tourism Plan to guide long-term destination growth, strengthen collaboration and align tourism businesses with emerging trends and opportunities.
Expanding visitor experiences and market reach
We are attracting new audiences through destination marketing, tourism product support, event attraction, and expanding partnerships with Experience Perth Hills and other regional bodies.
Our work in film tourism positions Swan as an attractive filming location and creates new opportunities for local tourism operators to participate in a growing visitor segment.
- 4.4 million annual visitors to the Swan Valley in 2024 (target 4.25 million)
- $544 million annual visitor expenditure in the Swan Valley in 2024 (target $426 million)
- 93 per cent of visitors rated their experience as positive in 2024 (target 93 per cent).
Key tourism initiatives (such as the Old Vine Charter, Swan Valley gift cards, and Experience Perth Hills campaigns) will continue to ensure long-term sector value.
We will now focus on implementing a Tourism Plan, expanding destination marketing, advancing film tourism, supporting new product development, strengthening partnerships, and attracting major events to grow the visitor economy.
We are committed to exploring new visitor servicing initiatives and investigating new technologies to increase customer satisfaction and visitation.