Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said boosting the NSW visitor economy through marketing campaigns, strategic events and industry development was critical to the State’s recovery.
“The visitor economy is the lifeblood of much of NSW, from our stunning Harbour City which is usually the country’s international gateway to the diverse regional communities that rely on visitors to keep local businesses operating,” Minister Ayres said.
“As NSW bounces back from this global pandemic, the visitor economy will be a shining light for the State by creating and securing jobs, and generating visitor spending as demand and visitation increases.
“We have strong interest from intrastate and interstate visitors looking for an escape after a tough year – NSW offers diverse destinations and experiences, and our tourism businesses are COVID-Safe and ready to go.
“The NSW Government will work hand-in-hand with industry to help businesses navigate this new environment as we push to get travel, events, dining out, retail and visiting attractions back to pre-COVID levels.”
The State’s tourism and major events agency Destination NSW will continue to promote the State’s destinations and experiences through campaigns including Love NSW for local travellers, the Sydney-focused Love It Like You Mean It targeting Sydneysiders, and The Great Escape for interstate markets.
Key activities strengthening the NSW visitor economy in 2020-21 include:
- High reach and high impact broadcast and marketing campaigns to promote Sydney and NSW to domestic markets;
- Growth of the Sydney and NSW events calendar through securing major events to drive visitation and boost local economies including Disney’s Frozen, Pippin, Hamilton, The Rugby Championships and the Sydney SuperFight;
- Delivery of Australian-first COVID-Safe events including the new live music initiative Great Southern Nights (1,000 COVID-Safe gigs across NSW in November) and Vivid Sydney 2021;
- Securing partnership campaigns with travel trade partners and airlines to develop opportunities to package and promote NSW short breaks, major events, destinations and experiences;
- Delivering industry development programs to assist tourism businesses to develop, promote and sell their tourism products;
- Delivering programs to attract more visitors, events and conferences and spread visitor economy benefits to more regional NSW communities; and
- Maintaining awareness of NSW as a visitor destination in international markets so Sydney and NSW are top of mind when border restrictions ease.
The Budget will help support the delivery of the Visitor Economy Strategy 2030, focusing on returning the visitor economy to pre-COVID levels by 2024 and positioning NSW as the premier visitor economy in the Asia-Pacific.
It also complements and supports the NSW Government’s Summer Summit recommendations to help businesses capitalise on Sydney’s transformation into a COVID-Safe alfresco city, and the 24-Hour Economy Strategy unlocking the city’s cultural and economic potential.
