NSW has been named Australia’s premier destination for major events, last night receiving the award for Best Event State at the Australian Event Awards, held at the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.
14 September 2017Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said he was delighted to accept on behalf of the State and that it confirmed what everyone had known for sometime – NSW is the major events capital of Australia.
“We’ve always known that NSW is without doubt Australia’s premier destination for major events and now it’s official,” Mr Marshall said.
“This award demonstrates the NSW Government’s commitment to presenting a world class calendar of major events throughout Sydney and rural and regional NSW is paying dividends.
“More than 500 events have been secured for Sydney and rural and regional NSW by the NSW Government since March 2011 and these events have delivered an estimated visitor spend in excess of $3 billion to the state.
“From Sydney to rural and regional NSW, when it comes to Australia’s best sporting, cultural, lifestyle, business and entertainment events, it’s all happening in NSW.”
Australia’s largest event, Vivid Sydney, was awarded Best Tourism Event and Best Cultural, Arts or Music Event, capping off another impressive year for the world’s biggest festival of light, music and ideas, which attracted a record 2.33 million attendees in 2017.
Vivid Sydney Creative Director Ignatius Jones was also honoured for his stellar major events career as recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
“After 42 years in the business, this is indeed an honour. I’d like to thank everybody who made this possible and who continue to make my life fabulous by working with me on Vivid Sydney,” Mr Jones said.
“The Australian Event Awards is a unique platform for recognising the sheer diversity and quality of Australian events, and for the event organisers themselves to be acknowledged across the entire national events industry. Obviously it’s a great honour to be acclaimed by an industry I am so very proud to be part of.”
Other NSW winners at the Australian Event Awards include the Bowral Classic which won Best New Event and Best Community Event, the iconic Sun Herald City2Surf named Best Sporting Event and Byron Bay Bluesfest which was awarded Best Regional Event.
Download a PDF version of this media release (PDF 182 kb)
