DOMESTIC VISITORS TO NSW ATTRACT RECORD $16 BILLION

Local communities across NSW are reaping the rewards of significant growth in the State’s domestic tourism market, with interstate visitors, holiday makers and business travellers underpinning a record $16.4 billion year for the NSW visitor economy.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres said the new data from the Tourism Research Australia’s National Visitor Survey shows the NSW Government is progressing strongly in its strategy to grow overnight visitation.

"In the year ending March 2016, NSW received 28.6 million domestic visitors who stayed 92.1 million nights and spent $16.4 billion. Holiday expenditure in NSW exceeded $7 billion for the first time ($7.2 billion) and business expenditure was up 11.2 per cent to $2.8 billion,” Mr Ayres said.

“Domestic visitors to NSW have spent more than $16 billion, delivering a massive injection to restaurants, hotels and tourism attractions. These results highlight the outstanding work delivered by our tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW to maintain a competitive advantage to our tourism industry and I congratulate the team at Destination NSW on this wonderful achievement.”

While Sydney has continued its national lead as the number-one place to do business, Regional NSW has also performed well. Business was the primary driver of growth in visitor numbers to New England North West (+45.8 per cent business growth), the Hunter (+8.1 per cent) and Murray (+22.8 per cent) regions.

There was significant growth in interstate travel to NSW, primarily from Queensland, reaching 9.8 million visitors (+12.6 per cent), and holiday-makers bolstered strong visitor growth in the North Coast (+21.6 per cent holiday growth), Blue Mountains (+19.5 per cent) and Snowy Mountains (+12.2 per cent) regions.

“Not only is NSW attracting more interstate visitors but more people are also choosing to visit our regions. Regional NSW welcomed a record 20.2 million overnight visitors, who contributed a record $9.6 billion in overnight expenditure,” Mr Ayres added.

“Regional NSW is one of this Government's leading priorities and tourism plays a vital role in our regional economy highlighted by some of Australia’s most successful home grown events including the Tamworth Country Music Festival, the Deni Ute Muster and the Parkes Elvis Festival.”

Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer Sandra Chipchase said: “NSW has again achieved its highest domestic overnight visitors and expenditure on record. We are very pleased our industry partnerships, destination and event-led marketing strategies continue to deliver strong results and these latest figures are further proof we have the plans to ensure NSW remains number-one.”