International travel package sales to the Vivid Sydney festival have grown exponentially, with a record 86,700 international travel packages sold – 13,000 more than in 2018 – an increase of 19 per cent.
Vivid Sydney enjoyed significant growth from the United States specifically due to airline partner campaigns (17,170 packages, up 163 per cent), India (6,254 packages, up 46 per cent) and South Korea (6,565 packages, up 24 per cent).
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the results were testament to Vivid Sydney’s popularity and universal appeal, as well as the NSW Government’s marketing efforts via its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW, which is the owner, manager and producer of Vivid Sydney.
“It’s fantastic news that Vivid Sydney 2019 has broken the record with 2.4 million attendees, though it is no surprise as this event really ticks all the boxes for visitors to NSW,” Minister Ayres said.
“Vivid Sydney 2019 generated $172 million in tourism expenditure for NSW, which is an outstanding return for our State, especially coupled with the international profile the festival brings.”
Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer and Vivid Sydney Executive Producer Sandra Chipchase said China saw 25,200 Vivid Sydney travel packages sold (up 7 per cent) and over 7,700 to Malaysia (up 12 per cent).
“The majority of our travel packages include a visit to regional NSW so many of our Vivid Sydney visitors are also enjoying attractions and experiences beyond Sydney,” Ms Chipchase said.
The reach of Vivid Sydney is not limited to visitors on the ground. The event website –vividsydney.com – received 1.8 million visits, while content with the social hashtag #VividSydney reached a staggering 621.7 million people, an increase of 643 per cent on 2018.
