NSW FOCUSES ON INDIA TO BOOST THE STATE’S VISITOR ECONOMY

Last week, Destination NSW hosted a delegation of more than 35 key travel partners from India, showcasing the extraordinary array of visitor experiences on offer to one of the state’s most important inbound tourism markets.

The Focus on India program provides NSW visitor economy operators with an invaluable forum to meet with Indian travel partners and enable them to promote and sell Sydney and NSW experiences to their clients.

NSW has returned to its position as the top Australian destination for Indian visitors after six years, with the latest Tourism Research Australia data showing impressive results for the year ending September 2023:

• Indian visitors stayed more than 7 million nights in NSW, injecting over $488 million into the state’s visitor economy
• 50 per cent of Indian visitors to Australia visited NSW, the highest market share of all states
• India was NSW’s fastest recovering international source market post-COVID-19, with 8 per cent more visitors and 14 per cent more visitor expenditure compared to the year ending September 2019.

This encouraging growth and preference for NSW indicates the Indian market presents an enormous opportunity for the state’s visitor economy.

The Focus on India program is designed to leverage this opportunity by inviting the visiting delegation of travel agents and tour operators to live and breathe NSW’s diverse visitor experiences firsthand. Delegates got a true taste of the state, with workshops at the Sydney Cricket Ground and a gala dinner at the iconic Sydney Opera House showcasing the best of NSW produce as well as visits to regional NSW locations such as the Blue Mountains, the South Coast and Port Stephens.

The program involved not only showing the travel partners the best of Sydney and NSW, but also connecting them with local businesses involved in the visitor economy. Over 30 businesses from across the state benefitted from meetings and networking opportunities with the Indian delegation, forging connections that will open doors and expose NSW to new and bigger audiences.

With Sydney as the gateway, NSW is well placed to leverage its iconic attractions, natural beauty, and thriving arts and cultural scene and build on the booming demand for its rich and immersive visitor experiences from one of the state’s fastest growing inbound tourism markets.

Destination NSW CEO Steve Cox said "The team at Destination NSW is privileged to have had the opportunity to host the delegation from India. It was great to be able to spend time together and hear firsthand their insights, including that Indian travellers are increasingly seeking experiential travel options.

“The event provided an invaluable platform for NSW visitor economy operators to develop business relationships with key Indian travel partners. These new connections will expose our local operators to new and bigger audiences, supporting businesses and thousands of jobs throughout the state’s visitor economy.”