International visitors find New South Wales an attractive and captivating destination - so much so that they are spending longer in the State. Over half of all visitors to Australia in 2011 visited NSW and the State recorded increases in average length of stay. Sydney, Australia's prime international gateway, remains a major tourist attraction in its own right.

The International Visitor Survey (IVS), for the year ending 31 December 2011, shows that NSW received nearly 2.8 million international overnight visitors in that period, an increase of 3%. They spent nearly 68.3 million nights in the State which was more than a third of all international nights in Australia.

A study of where international visitors stay while in Australia shows that New South Wales continues to hold the lion's share. In 2011, international visitors stayed on average 24.8 nights in NSW, slightly longer than in Victoria (24.5 nights) and 3.6 nights longer than visitors who stayed in Queensland. Compared to calendar year 2010, the average length of stay in NSW in 2011 grew by 1.8 nights. International visitors to NSW are spending more money in our state than in any other state. In 2011, over a third of international tourist expenditure in Australia was spent in NSW ($6.4 billion).

NSW received over half of all visitors to Australia in 2011 and 35.1 per cent of visitor nights spent in Australia.
 
Average spend increases

On average, international visitors each spent AUD $2,313 in NSW, which is an increase of 12% from the previous year.  (International expenditure now includes 30 per cent of pre-paid package expenditure but still excludes all pre-paid international airfares.) 

Sydney's magnetic appeal

Sydney, Australia's only truly global city retains a magnetic appeal in its own right. Sydney received nearly 2.6 million international overnight visitors in calendar 2011 and they spent nearly 57.6 million nights here, up by 5.7 per cent over the previous year.  Sydney received 93.1 per cent of international visitors to the State and 84.4 per cent of nights. 

New Zealand (14 per cent) was the largest source market of international visitors to NSW in 2011, followed by the United Kingdom (12 per cent) and mainland China (11 per cent). Visitors from Mainland China increased by a robust 7.7 per cent. Over the past few years Mainland China became the biggest contributor of international visitor nights in NSW (now 15.7 per cent of the total in 2011), followed by the United Kingdom (10.1 per cent) and Korea (9.1 per cent).

Compared to 2010, visitor nights from Mainland China grew by 4.6 per cent. A small increase in holiday visitors who stayed a little longer was the main driver of growth in Chinese to our State Visitors from Asia are particularly valuable because they stay a long time usually due to Education and Visiting Friends and Relatives. Visitors from India stayed an average of 42.1 nights in NSW, the longest average stay of any of our origin markets. Next were Korean visitors (41.6 nights) and visitors from Taiwan (40.8 nights).

Visitors from India spent the highest proportion of their NSW nights in Sydney (95.4 per cent), followed by Indonesians (94 per cent) and visitors from Korea (92.2 per cent). Visitors from The Netherlands ventured further, spending the highest proportion of their NSW nights in regional NSW (37.2 per cent), followed by Canadians (30 per cent), Germans (29.2 per cent) and visitors from Scandinavia (28.3 per cent).

Nearly one-fifth (17.8 per cent) of international overnight visitors who visited NSW arrived in Australia on a travel package.

Most international overnight visitors who visited NSW (53.2 per cent), were on a return trip to Australia. The Korean market had the highest percentage of first-time travellers to Australia (72.2 per cent), followed by Italians (72.1 per cent) and Taiwanese visitors (67.4 per cent).

Source markets and motives

Travel between New Zealand and Sydney continues to be brisk. Unsurprisingly, New Zealand had the highest proportion of repeat travellers to New South Wales (92.8 per cent). Next came the Singaporean market (76.6 per cent) and visitors from Hong Kong (69.8 per cent).

Most travellers (54.3 per cent) nominated "holiday/pleasure" as their main purpose for visiting NSW. Next came "visiting friends and relatives" (25.9 per cent) and "business" (15 per cent). Of all international markets to NSW, Germany had the highest proportion who visited the State for a holiday (79.2 per cent), while visitors from Singapore (37.3 per cent) had the highest percentage who had visited for business. 

One final trend worth mentioning: the internet was by far the most common information source for the trip to Australia by international visitors who had visited NSW. Four out of 10 (43.9 per cent) visitors used the internet to get their information, more than double the next most popular source "friend or relative living in Australia" (20.6 per cent) and "previous visit(s)" (16.6 per cent).

According to projections by Australia's Tourism Forecasting Committee, international visitors to Australia are expected to increase from nearly 5.9 million in 2010/11 to nearly 8.2 million in 2020/21, an average annual growth rate of 3.3 per cent. Standout performers are expected to be India and China. Between 2010 and 2020 the average annual growth rate for visitors from China is expected to be 7.6 per cent and Indian visitors by 7.2 per cent. Many of them are likely to visit NSW.

Sources: International Visitor Survey, Tourism Research Australia (TRA) Tourism Forecasting Committee, Issue 1, 2012

For more information go to www.sydney.com and www.dnsw.com.au

Who's at ATE 2012?

Destination NSW. Booth 35. Eastern and Western. www.dnsw.com.au


MEDIA CONTACT:
Diane Glasson
diane.glasson@dnsw.com.au
61 2 9931 1475