Vivid Sydney – the largest festival of light, music and ideas in the Southern Hemisphere – was named Australia’s Best Tourism Event, and also the country’s Best Cultural, Arts or Music Event at the awards ceremony overnight.
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the accolades reflected the State’s stellar reputation for staging world class events.
“Vivid Sydney is undoubtedly a shining light of Australia’s event calendar and it has a fitting home here in NSW, showcasing the best of the Harbour City through technology, creativity and innovation,” Mr Ayres said.
“Sydney is a bold, global city that offers visitors and locals authentic experiences, from our landscapes, coastline and nearby regions, to our hospitality and dynamic events.
“Our schedule of events delivers great return for NSW through outstanding economic benefit, the generation of jobs and the flow on effect of positive publicity.
Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW, and continues to break records for attendance and international visitation.
Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer and Vivid Sydney Executive Producer Sandra Chipchase said the festival attracted 2.4 million attendees in 2019, a new record for the event.
“This year we achieved another record with 86,700 Vivid Sydney international travel packages being sold – 13,000 more than in 2018,” Ms Chipchase said.
Vivid Sydney 2019 generated $172 million for the NSW economy, and content with the social hashtag #VividSydney reached an astounding 621.7 million people worldwide.
“The NSW Government is committed to supporting events such as Vivid Sydney that give us a competitive edge in attracting visitors and increase our potential to build the State’s economy,” Minister Ayres said.
