NSW received a record $11 billion in international visitor expenditure, according to the latest International Visitor Survey results and continues to lead the country in attracting international visitors.
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said in the year ending March 2019 NSW welcomed 50.9 per cent of all international visitors to Australia.
“NSW has achieved a new high in terms of tourism related expenditure, with this latest survey confirming we have smashed the $11 billion expenditure milestone for the first time ever,” Mr Ayres said.
“NSW leads Victoria and Queensland across the three major metrics – visitation, bed nights and expenditure – reinforcing our position as the number one spot for tourists to visit.
“Sydney alone received 4.1 million international visitors, who stayed 82.3 million nights and spent over $10.1 billion, which is a phenomenal achievement and puts us well ahead of Melbourne and Brisbane.”
NSW remains the top destination for ten of the top fifteen source markets to Australia, namely China, USA, United Kingdom, Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, Canada, France and Indonesia.
The State has shown strong growth in the Japanese market over the past three years, which can be attributed to an increase in trade partnerships particularly around aviation.
“In 2015 Qantas and ANA both commenced daily flights from Haneda Airport (Tokyo) to Sydney, and consequently our marketing efforts in this market have also evolved. Now with this latest survey we see the number of visitors, bed nights and expenditure to the state increasing by 15.6% from the last survey.”
Regional NSW received 868,800 international visitors in the year ending March 2019, who stayed 15.1 million nights in the State’s rural centres.
“NSW received its highest ever share of visitor nights to regional Australia, which confirms that the word is spreading about the unique experiences guests can enjoy in areas such as the Central Coast, South Coast and Hunter region.”
