The most recent ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Visitor Survey, released today, shows that in the year ending March 2019 Sydney residents were the top source market for visitors to regional NSW accounting for more than a third of domestic visitors, bed nights and expenditure.
Minister for Tourism Stuart Ayres said this demonstrated that Sydney residents are holidaying in their own backyard and supporting local NSW businesses.
“The survey reveals that 9.6 million visitors to regional NSW were from Sydney. This goes to show that Sydneysiders are doing their bit to support our local economy and proves that NSW has so much more to offer travelers outside of the CBD,” Mr Ayres said.
“The number of visitor nights from these Sydneysiders increased by almost 16 per cent from the previous survey, which equated to a total $4.5 billion in tourism related spend.”
Sydney, regional NSW and NSW overall achieved the highest number of domestic overnight visitors, nights and expenditure on record and there was significant growth across all metrics.
NSW continues to lead the country according to the latest Tourism Research Australia data, attracting 35.6 million domestic visitors (up 7.9 per cent) who stayed 111.4 million nights (up a record 8.3 per cent) and spent $21.7 billion (up 11.4 per cent).
“Sydney and NSW have it all – beautiful beaches, mountains, magnificent drives, outstanding food and drink, and unforgettable cultural experiences. NSW received its highest volume of ‘holiday’ visitors on record, with 14.1 million people spending 48 million bed nights right across the state and attracting 32.7 percent of all domestic visitors in Australia,” Mr Ayres said.
The latest release also shows outstanding growth for regional NSW with the North Coast achieving its highest number of visitors, nights and expenditure on record. Other areas to receive the largest number of visitors on record include Hunter, South Coast, Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Snowy Mountains regions.
“Regional NSW received nearly 25 million domestic visitors in the year ending March 2019 who spent $12.6 billion, which is exactly the kind of boost our regional communities need right now,” Mr Ayres said.
