Tourism NSW has announced a plan to create three industry reference groups in a bid to work more closely with the Tourism industry and set up a new era of tourism growth across the State. Minister for Tourism, Jodi McKay said the Government’s support of the NSW Tourism Strategy as part of the Mini-Budget, would create thousands of extra jobs, deliver a significant increase in visitor spending and provide a substantial boost to the NSW economy. “This is a true partnership involving all sectors of the industry,” Ms McKay said.
Industry groups to create new era
“Together we have set new goals to increase tourist spending in NSW by an extra $1.7 billion a year by 2016 and create more than 23,000 extra direct jobs for workers and families.” Ms McKay said industry wanted greater involvement with Tourism NSW and this would be achieved through the creation of three new industry reference groups to be set up under the auspices of the Tourism NSW Board, to work on Sydney, International and Regional tourism She said the funding package included additional support to regional tourist organisations which served communities that depended on tourism to sustain their economies. “While NSW still holds the number one position in Australia for both international and domestic visitors, we are facing real challenges and strong competition from the other states and New Zealand,” Ms McKay said. “This investment will allow us to set a new target of 160.6 million visitor nights by 2016, an increase of 25.5 million from the original target.” She said there would also be new initiatives to ensure NSW was positioned to benefit from the strong growth of emerging markets such as India and China. Ms McKay said the Government’s increased funding would be tied to strict performance targets and improved efficiencies within Tourism NSW “We want to make sure that we are getting maximum benefit and return for our investment and that the programs will be driven by industry and those with the best knowledge of their local markets,” she said.
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