The new blueprint for tourism growth in New South Wales, aimed at tripling overnight visitor spending to AUD 55 billion by 2030, has been hailed as a game-changer that may inspire other states.
Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said the NSW Government would work with industry to aggressively pursue a new target of AUD 55 billion in overnight visitor expenditure for the State by 2030.
“A new ambitious 2030 tourism target is part of the NSW Government’s focused effort to grow NSW’s position as Australia’s leading destination,” Marshall said.
“Marketing Sydney as the gateway to Australia is key to growing the visitor economy in NSW.
“International visitor markets like China and India represent significant growth opportunities for Sydney and rural and regional NSW, which is why we’re working on campaigns and strategies to fly more tourists to the State.
“Promoting the diversity of our State’s rural and regional towns to these priority international markets will be a game changer for local economies.
“We want to make tourism an engine industry for rural and regional NSW – that’s why we’ve also, for the first time ever, created a regional NSW target of AUD 20 billion by 2020 and AUD 25 billion by 2030.”
Mr Marshall said the new target comes following an independent review of the NSW Government’s 2012 Visitor Economy Industry Action Plan.
“The review identified a number of areas for growth and recommendations – we’ve responded with 43 targeted actions in this plan,” Marshall said.
“Since 2011 the NSW Government has turned around performance in the visitor economy – we’ve overseen growth of 36 per cent in overnight visitors and 54 per cent in visitor expenditure.
“Our tourism sector already directly employs 171,100 people in NSW – we know that growth in this sector means more jobs. This new plan is our whole-of-government strategy to work with industry to maintain that growth.”
Tamworth Hotel
Tourism & Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said the Visitor Economy Industry Action Plan 2030 highlighted the importance of critical infrastructure, the role of cultural and nature-based tourism and bolstering the visitor experience as a whole journey.
“A new target of AUD 45 billion in overnight visitor spend by 2025 and AUD55 billion by 2030 opens a wealth of opportunity for the tourism industry in New South Wales to go gangbusters,” she said.
“The iconic Sydney Harbour is the money shot that brings in domestic and international visitors. With the 2020 target on track, it’s time to dream big and tap into our potential.
“Increasing the foot traffic through rural and regional New South Wales will be crucial to the sector and the State, and to achieving the 2030 target.
“Tourism is a super growth sector for jobs and is key for our regions, but international visitors tend not to travel that far afield or stay overnight unless the proven power of destination marketing is targeted at the experiences on offer outside of the city centre of Sydney.
“I applaud the foresight of Minister Marshall to set a regional tourism target for New South Wales, which includes a focus on marketing campaigns, improved tourism infrastructure and more events being hosted in rural and regional New South Wales.
“I’m looking forward to the tourism industry working in tandem with government to get more people extending their Sydney experience, from enjoying a beer at the Tamworth Hotel, stopping for a heatherbrae pie on their road trip up the Coast, and attending major sporting events and musical concerts in the regions of New South Wales.”
Edited by Peter Needham
.jpg){kind=tracking}