INTERNATIONAL VISITORS SPEND $9.1 BILLION IN NSW

Overseas visitors to NSW have spent more during their stay than ever before, according to the International Visitor Survey released today.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres said Tourism Research Australia (TRA) figures highlight international visitors to NSW spent more than $9 billion for the first time – up 18 per cent on the previous year.

“In the year to June 2016, there were 3.6 million overseas visitors who stayed almost 87 million nights and spent $9.1 billion in NSW – more than 35 per cent higher than any other state and close to 50 per cent more overnight stays,” Mr Ayres said.

“Tourism has a massive impact on employment, with analysis highlighting NSW tourism supports almost 270,000 jobs, with around two thirds employed in one of the State’s 93,600 tourism businesses.

“China is the largest source of international visitors and continues to lead NSW’s tourism growth. We saw 639,000 visitors from China travelling to NSW over the 12-month period – up 21 per cent on the previous year.

“There was also huge growth in visitors from the US and Korea with both markets up by 16 per cent. In fact, NSW was the top destination for the year in 11 of the top 15 source markets for Australia: China, United Kingdom, USA, South Korea, Germany, India, Hong Kong, Canada, France, Taiwan and Indonesia.

“Regional NSW achieved significant growth, welcoming 718,200 visitors who stayed nearly 14 million nights – an 11 per cent increase on the previous year and more than double the rate of growth in nights for Regional Australia.”

Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer Sandra Chipchase said the results reflected the continued success of the NSW Government’s partnerships with industry to drive overseas visitation.

“Our strategic marketing, strong industry partnerships and securing and staging of major world-class events such as Vivid Sydney are delivering for NSW,” Ms Chipchase said.