NSW Breaks Records - Still No 1 for Visitors

Recently released International Visitor Survey results show that NSW remains the favourite Australian destination for international visitors with new data showing the State leads in the number of visitors, visitor nights and visitor expenditure, breaking previous records.

Minister for Tourism and Major Events, George Souris said: “NSW continues to be the favourite State for international visitors, welcoming a huge three million visitors to year-end September 2013 who made a $6.6 billion contribution to our economy and stayed more than 70 million nights.

“We are also welcoming more holidaymakers, with our cities, beaches and countryside, along with the best line-up of Sydney and regional events, holding a strong appeal. Our bumper calendar of events during winter, notably the British and Irish Lions Rugby Tour, drove a double-digit surge in visitors from the United Kingdom during the September quarter.

“It is also very pleasing to see particularly strong increases in visitors from China, Malaysia and Singapore, which increased 18%, 19% and 15% respectively.

“For the second successive quarter, China is NSW’s top source market. More than 60% of Chinese visitors to Australia visited NSW in year-end September 2013. Visitors from China to NSW increased 18%, stayed more than 11.6 million nights and contributed $1.4 billion to the NSW economy. With New Zealand traditionally the country where we see the most visitors, we in fact welcomed 24,000 more visitors from China.

“Through Destination NSW, our tourism and major events agency, we will continue to ensure NSW is the first choice for visitors from China, through the delivery of our China Tourism Strategy – a direct recommendation of the Visitor Economy Taskforce Report.

“Importantly too, increases in visitors from Malaysia, Singapore and India are as a direct result of the introduction of new services secured for Sydney by the NSW Government through Destination NSW, including Scoot and Air India,” Minister Souris said.

As well as increases in visitors from China, Malaysia and Singapore, NSW also saw a 17% increase in Working Holiday Makers, with double-digit growth from our traditional Western markets such as the United Kingdom, Germany and France. In particular, there was a 52% increase in Working Holiday Makers visitor nights from the United Kingdom.

“NSW is a dream destination for visitors looking to experience our wonderful cities and regions, not just as a tourist but also as part of our communities. Working holidaymakers in this period made a significant contribution to our State, staying over an extra two million nights,” Mr Souris said.

Destination NSW CEO Sandra Chipchase said: “NSW has never been a more appealing destination. Destination NSW’s focus on securing major events, developing our tourism products, working with airlines to increase direct services and capacity and spreading the message far and wide about NSW will deliver even stronger results for the State and importantly, an even better experience for the millions of international visitors.”