John Barilaro med rel SNOWY MOUNTAINS ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

Minister for Regional Tourism John Barilaro said the increasing appetite from the Indian market to include regional NSW into travel itineraries builds upon the strong results in the year ending September 2014, which saw 86,500 visitors from India come to NSW, who stayed 3.2 million nights and spent $192 million.

Mr Barilaro said a new tourism initiative in India, features the State’s spectacular Snowy Mountains and showcases regional NSW as a desirable year-round tourist destination.

“We are continuing to work with travel agents and wholesalers to develop a series of itineraries to showcase regional NSW,” Mr Barilaro said.

“Last month we welcomed our first group of Indian tourists, who experienced the Snowy Mountains on a coach tour through the Kosciuszko National Park, which included three nights in Thredbo Village.

“Our visitors enjoyed fantastic walking trails through the National Park, including taking photos of the spectacular scenery.

“The new initiative is a key strategy for increasing visitation and this activity is seen as a great opportunity to contribute to the goal of doubling overnight visitor expenditure in NSW by 2020.

“Visitors who come to the region in summer, spring and autumn can enjoy fishing in pristine streams, exploring historic towns like Cooma, Nimmitabel and Tumbarumba and enjoy fantastic local bars, restaurants and cafes.

“The NSW Government is also investing in regional tourism with the new $110 million Regional Tourism Infrastructure Fund to support critical visitor economy infrastructure,” Mr Barilaro said.

This initiative comes on top of the success of the Jhappi Time campaign launched earlier this year.

Jhappi Time was launched in February and is the only tourism campaign implemented by an Australian state tourism body that specifically targets the visiting friends and relatives market in India.