Domestic and international visitors have made their choice and reaffirmed NSW as Australia’s premier tourism state, with the latest independent survey results for the year ending September 2018 showing it to be the most popular destination for both groups.
Member for Bega Andrew Constance, Member for South Coast Shelley Hancock and Member for Kiama Gareth Ward said the results were fantastic news for the South Coast.
“Our beautiful region welcomed 3.9 million domestic tourists and 192,900 international travellers which is wonderful news for our local businesses and tourism industry,” Mr Constance said.
“The number of international visitors to the South Coast grew by more than 12 per cent compared to the previous year, and they spent $261 million during their stay.”
Member for South Coast Shelley Hancock said, “Tourism is all about encouraging people to see and experience more of our stunning region and ensuring they have a great time, but it’s also critical to sustaining business and creating new jobs.
“This means more heads on hotel beds, people in our restaurants, cafes, pubs and shops, spending money and driving our local visitor economy.”
“We want to ensure tourism continues to thrive in our region to ensure everyone reaps the benefit of having visitors from far and wide spend their hard earned vacations and valuable tourism dollars right here,” Member for Kiama Gareth Ward said.
Minister for Tourism and Major Events said NSW was in a golden era.
“These impressive numbers are turbocharging our economy, generating jobs and driving investment in local communities as tourists yet again choose to visit NSW ahead of all other states,” Mr Marshall said.
“Internationally, NSW received 4.3 million visitors who stayed 95.5 million nights and spent $10.6 billion.
“Domestically, we welcomed 33.6 million overnight visitors who stayed 105.1 million nights and for the first time ever, these visitors spent more than $20 billion.
“The results speak to the broad appeal of NSW; we really do have something for everyone, with our Sydney icons and city skyline, renowned beaches and waterways, outback and bush adventures, world-class food and wine, and impressive major events calendar.”
The National and International Visitor Surveys are released by Tourism Research Australia. For more on the survey results for year ending September 2018, visit www.tra.gov.au