Wednesday, 29 March 2017
Australian tourists are spending more money in rural and regional NSW than ever before, with strong visitor growth to NSW regions underpinning a record $16.7 billion year for domestic tourism.
Last year, NSW welcomed 29.3 million domestic overnight visitors, of which more than 70 per cent visited regional NSW, according to the National Visitor Survey released today.
Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said rural and regional NSW was experiencing a tourism bonanza having achieved its highest domestic overnight visitors, nights and expenditure on record.
“This is a fantastic result for our State, which is supported by the NSW Government’s absolute commitment to support growth of our tourism sector, and ensure every part of NSW reaps the benefits of that growth,” Mr Marshall said.
“These results show that record levels of tourism dollars are flowing to rural and regional NSW turbocharging local economies, generating jobs and driving investment in local communities.
“Rural and regional NSW is the heartland of domestic visitation into NSW, with almost three times the number of domestic nights spent in regional NSW than in Sydney.
“These latest National Visitor Survey results demonstrate the State is reaping the benefits of the NSW Government’s significant ongoing investment in tourism and major events, with the goal of doubling overnight visitor expenditure by 2020.”
In the year to December 2016, communities across rural and regional NSW welcomed 21 million visitors who stayed 71 million nights and spent $10.2 billion, delivering an incredible injection to local restaurants, hotels and tourism attractions.
Tourism expenditure in the State’s regional areas also grew by 10 per cent, making regional travel the largest driver of NSW’s visitor expenditure growth.
Nationally, NSW also had the highest increase in domestic overnight holiday travellers, welcoming 12 million visitors on vacation. This growth was mainly driven by holiday visitors to regional NSW.