With Sydney playing host to major exhibitions, theatre, live performance and festivals, Destination NSW has confirmed that cultural tourism is on the rise with the state attracting almost 6.5 million overnight cultural visitors in the year ending March 2015, a significant 5.6 per cent increase on the previous year.
During the year ending March 2015, NSW welcomed 4.5 million domestic and almost two million international travellers who attended a theatre performance or concert, visited a museum, art gallery or festival, a historical or heritage building, site or monument.
Stuart Ayres, minister for trade, tourism and major events, NSW said that cultural events and experiences are a major motivator for travel while also providing a terrific boost to our tourism industry. “Our fantastic calendar of cultural events inspires many visitors to come to Sydney and NSW. They book into hotels, dine in local restaurants, visit attractions and shop in our retail outlets. The events calendar developed by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW delivers an outstanding selection of experiences for culture-loving travellers,” said Ayres.
He added, “Our calendar of cultural events includes Matilda The Musical, which has opened to great reviews, and the upcoming Sydney International Art Series, Collette Dinnigan: Unlaced, Art of the Brick: DC Comics, the ARIA Awards, and AACTA Awards. We are also home to some incredibly unique events such as Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour and Vivid Sydney.”
Destination NSW’s research revealed that more than half (54 per cent) of domestic overnight cultural visitors to Sydney were from interstate and 46 per cent were from intrastate NSW. More than a third of interstate visitors came from Victoria, followed by Queensland, Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Internationally, the five strongest markets for cultural visitors travelling to Sydney are China, UK, USA, Korea and New Zealand.