The latest tourism forecast figures show New South Wales receives the lion's share of both the international (33 per cent) and domestic (30 per cent) visitor nights in Australia, with 65.2 million international visitor nights and 78.3 million domestic visitor nights in 2010.
Total visitor nights (international plus domestic) are forecast to increase by 18 per cent by 2020 and New South Wales is forecast to maintain its market share. The bulk of the growth (85 per cent) will come from the international market which is set to climb from 65.2 million nights to 87.1 million nights by 2020.
The challenge of regional dispersal is expected to continue for the regions within New South Wales. Despite the fact that visitor nights to regions are forecast to increase by eight per cent by 2020, the regions will cede visitor nights to Sydney. Currently Sydney gets more than half of the State's visitors and is expected to increase its dominance of the tourism market by 2020.
While the regions within the State currently pick up just 5.6 million business visitor nights, regions dominate the State's holiday visitor market and are expected to continue to do so through to 2020.
“Tourism brings $11.1 billion a year into the economy of New South Wales,” said the Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP.
“With so much economic prosperity at stake from this vital industry, not least among the 160,000 people in New South Wales directly employed in tourism, we are doing the hard work to unleash more investment in hotels, transport and tourism infrastructure.
“Emerging markets, especially China, offer fresh opportunities to invest in quality tourism experiences for the future – both for domestic travellers and those from overseas.
“Our tourism industry must improve on the supply side. The 2020 Tourism Industry Potential estimates Australia will need another 40,000 to 70,000 rooms by the end of the decade. We’ll need up to 150,000 more jobs in tourism too.
“A collective focus is essential. By working with state governments and industry on capacity-building measures such as planning, transport and skills, Australia will be in better shape to welcome more visitors,” Minister Ferguson said.
The Tourism Forecasting Committee’s regional forecast tables are at www.ret.gov.au/tra