NSW remains Australia’s top destination for domestic visitors and welcomed the highest number of overseas visitors since the closure of international borders according to the latest figures from Tourism Research Australia (TRA).
TRA has today released the National and International Visitor Survey results for the year ending March 2022, which show NSW welcomed 66.4 million domestic overnight and daytrip visitors, with expenditure increasing by $2 billion on the previous year. While international visitors rose to 251,200, representing a 601 per cent increase on the year ending March 2021.
Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade, Minister for Tourism and Sport and Minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the results reflected the NSW Government’s recovery roadmap and were particularly positive for regional NSW.
“The last two years have been challenging for businesses in the visitor economy but they have also inspired more Australians to see their own backyard, with NSW the preferred destination of choice due to its unique and diverse tourism offering,” Mr Ayres said.
“The NSW North Coast was the nation’s most visited destination for domestic overnight visitors after Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, with regional NSW accounting for 31 per cent of domestic overnight visitors in regional Australia.
“Strategic investments by the NSW Government with local councils and the private sector in visitor infrastructure, transport and destination marketing mean regional NSW is now poised to attract new international visitor segments and a greater share of traditional markets.
“On the back of these encouraging results, the NSW Government’s $422 million commitment to the state’s visitor economy outlined in the 2022-23 NSW Budget, will ensure we reach our target of $65 billion in total visitor expenditure by 2030 and achieve our goal of making NSW the premier visitor economy of the Asia Pacific.”
Other key results for the year ending March 2022 compared to March 2021:
- Sydney domestic overnight visitors up 22 per cent with spend up 70 per cent to $4.7 billion
- International visitor nights in NSW increased by 444 per cent to 15.6 million nights
- International visitor spend in NSW increased by 511 per cent to $1.5 billion
The highest number of international visitors came from New Zealand (44,800), followed by the United Kingdom (36,600) and the United States (28,400). China remained the top country for visitor expenditure in NSW ($201.7 million), followed by India ($184.5 million) and the United Kingdom ($161.7 million). For more information visit www.tra.gov.au.
