Lunar New Year rivals NYE, Easter and Christmas holidays for Sydney’s biggest tourist spend-a-thon
Across Asia Lunar New Year brings celebrations of prosperity, happiness and wealth, and now Sydney is set to reap the rewards with half a million tourists ready to spend a fortune.
NSW
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Sydney’s Lunar New Year celebrations are set to attract more than half a million Chinese visitors to the Harbour City, which will inject up to a billion dollars into the local economy and has kicked off with a traditional ceremony.
The fortnight-long festival is ushering in the Year of the Snake, one of the largest celebrations outside Asia, and has this year featured Tai Chi Grandmaster to Aussie star Chris Hemsworth, Gary Khor.
Khor rang in the new year at Sydney’s Capella hotel with a traditional Chinese eye dotting ceremony, an ancient tradition designed to “awaken” the lion dancers.
Hailing from a traditional Chinese family, Khor has earned a respected rank in the global Tai Chi community, particularly in China.
For the next three weeks Sydney Airport will receive 97 return flights per week from mainland China, and a further 40 return flights from Hong Kong and Taiwan, bringing in more than 501,000 passengers in total.
Chinese visitors including international students spend $196 per night in NSW on average, while Hongkongers and Taiwanese travellers spend slightly less ($161 and $74 per night respectively), figures collected by the state’s tourism agency Destination NSW show.
Lunar New Year rivals NYE, Easter and Christmas holidays for Sydney’s biggest tourist spend-a-thon
If each visitor stays for at least 11 days their total spend will eclipse a conservative estimate of $954.7 million.
“The volume of passengers … demonstrates Sydney’s status as Australia’s gateway to the world and our enduring appeal as a destination for Chinese travellers,” airport CEO Scott Charlton said.
Destination NSW expects visitor numbers to surge past the 352,320 short-term arrivals recorded in February 2024, after the Chinese government extended the official holiday period by an extra day, thereby allowing workers to take two days of annual leave for an 11-day break.
In February last year arrivals from multiple east and south-east Asian markets more than doubled compared to the month prior, including holiday-makers from Hong Kong (up 158 per cent), Vietnam (up 377 per cent) and Singapore (up 101 per cent).
Tourism Minister John Graham said the Lunar New Year boom is “great for the NSW visitor economy and … for the vibrancy of our city”, with Western Sydney’s food and cultural experiences playing an increasingly important role.
“Yes, overseas visitors often come to Sydney for the big iconic landmarks, but what keeps them coming back is the amazing experiences they have while they’re here,” he said.
Merlin Entertainments, which operates Sydney Tower Eye and Darling Harbour’s Madame Tussauds, Wild Life Sydney Zoo and Sea Life Sydney Aquarium attractions, is expected a bumper crowd of international tourists this Lunar New Year after welcoming more than 200,000 through the gates last year.
“Sydney’s festivities are some of the largest Lunar New Year celebrations outside of Asia and are a key trading period for our industry,” CEO Ian Wood said.
“The Lunar New Year is as important as the Christmas and New Year holidays, the Easter school holidays and Vivid Sydney in attracting visitors to Sydney and regional NSW.”
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Originally published as Lunar New Year rivals NYE, Easter and Christmas holidays for Sydney’s biggest tourist spend-a-thon