NSW will embark on a major shake-up of its tourism strategy as it attempts to nearly double visitor spending in a decade by shifting focus to leisure experiences, building 40,000 new hotel rooms and adding millions of airline seats.
The way Sydney is sold to Australia and the world will also change, with marketing to showcase the city’s “first light” culture of morning activities, wellness and the outdoors, and “the vibrant brunch scene”.
Brunch, wellness activities and the outdoors will figure in new campaigns promoting Sydney to the world.Credit: James Alcock
The state government will adopt an ambitious “stretch goal” of lifting annual visitor expenditure from $51.4 billion to $91 billion by 2035 – or 5 per cent a year – with a quarter of total spending to come from overseas visitors amid a rebounding Chinese market.
Premier Chris Minns said that while the number of people coming to NSW for a holiday was at an all-time high, the government was ready to “put our shoulder to the wheel” to push it higher.
But the task hinges on attracting more international airlines into NSW, including Sydney Airport, and building more hotels, which will require significant private capital investment and changes to planning rules.
Tourism Minister John Graham said the government needed to bring “a fraction of the energy that we’re putting into the housing challenge into the hotel accommodation challenge … exactly what that involves, we’ll sort through that.”
NSW Tourism Minister John Graham says outdoor activities such as kayaking will be central to how Sydney is marketed to tourists.Credit: Wolter Peeters
While the opening of Western Sydney Airport in 2026 would be a major contributor to the airline seats required, Graham said adding flights to Kingsford-Smith was also essential. Last month the government announced Turkish Airlines will fly to Sydney via Singapore four times a week from December, aided by the NSW Aviation Attraction Fund and enabled by the federal government.
“A few more decisions like that will really be game-changers,” Graham said. Asked if the previous Commonwealth decision to block Qatar Airways operating more flights into Australia was an error, he said: “Yeah … we haven’t provided a great deal of commentary on it from a state point of view, but we want more visitors to NSW.”
The NSW government is yet to release its full 2035 Visitor Economy Strategy, but a summary, to be made public on Tuesday, says there is significant room for NSW to expand its experiential, luxury and upscale tourism offering.
It says modern visitors don’t just want to visit an iconic destination they can see online, such as the Opera House. “They want authentic connections with local culture, stunning landscapes, delicious food, a spontaneous night out and enriching, memorable moments. This is ‘experience tourism’.”
For domestic travellers, Sydney ranks third behind Melbourne and the Gold Coast as a preferred holiday destination – a return to a pre-COVID norm that the NSW government wants to change.
Under the new direction, tourism agency Destination NSW will be ordered to shift its focus from attracting major events toward developing leisure-oriented experiences, attracting new airlines, storytelling and collaborative marketing.
Graham said Sydney would always want to attract major events such the Rugby World Cup, but the focus would be on building a dependable calendar of regular events such as Vivid, Mardi Gras, Lunar New Year and annual sporting fixtures.
He said the focus on Sydney’s “first light” culture of early rising, physical activity and the outdoors was driven by market research, while food and beverage tourism “gets bigger” each year.
The review was led by tourism expert Andrew McEvoy, chair of Destination NSW Sally Loane and department secretary Elizabeth Mildwater. Its goals require federal government co-operation in areas where priorities can sometimes clash.
For example, it identifies the need to leverage NSW’s attractiveness to foreign students by advocating for favourable policies from the Commonwealth. In August, the federal government announced a cap on foreign students as it responds to political pressure over high levels of migration.
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