Visitor Economy Taskforce Report

Destination NSW today welcomed the NSW Government's response to the Visitor Economy Taskforce (VET) Report.

18 December 2012

Destination NSW Chairman, John Conde AO, said “I congratulate the Premier, Barry O’Farrell, the Minister for Tourism and Major Events, George Souris, and the NSW Government for their in-principle acceptance of the recommendations of the Visitor Economy Taskforce.”

“This is a significant step and Destination NSW accepts the responsibility for implementing the critical strategies and programs needed to strengthen the visitor economy in NSW. The objective is to double overnight visitation by 2020.”

“The Premier, Minister and the NSW Government are to be commended for their determination to drive change and strengthen the tourism and major events sector, which will provide significant benefits for NSW.”

“The first priority of the Destination NSW Board and our CEO, Sandra Chipchase, will be to consult with industry and to develop a comprehensive timetable for implementing the key recommendations.”

The Visitor Economy Taskforce highlighted seven key strategic imperatives for developing the NSW visitor economy. The key areas include growing physical capacity, renewing and revitalising regional destinations, improving the visitor experience, increasing visitor expenditure, making NSW more competitive and implementing a whole- of-government approach to driving the visitor economy.

Destination NSW CEO, Sandra Chipchase, said “As a member of the Visitor Economy Taskforce, I look forward to working with the DNSW Board to implement the blueprint from the VET Report. We will continue to work with industry to drive sustainable change to maintain and strengthen NSW’s leadership position as the premier state for tourism and major events.”

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[ARCHIVED & REDIRECTED] Visitor Economy Taskforce

Members of the tourism and events industry are invited to provide comments and submissions online to the Visitor Economy Taskforce via the NSW Government's 'Have Your Say' site.

1 November 2011

The NSW Government established the Visitor Economy Taskforce to develop a strategy to double overnight visitor expenditure to NSW by 2020. The Taskforce is one of six established to develop strategies to position key sectors of the NSW economy for growth.

The Visitor Economy Taskforce members were Russell Balding, AO, the Hon. Bruce Baird AM, John King OAM and Sandra Chipchase, former CEO of Destination NSW.

Members of the public and industry were encouraged to contribute to the development of the work of the Visitor Economy Taskforce by providing submissions and comments through the NSW Government’s Have Your Say website. Consultation meetings were also held in Sydney and regional NSW.

The Visitor Economy Taskforce’s recommendations, in their final report, were released to the public in August 2012.

The report recommended actions to be taken by the NSW Government in partnership with industry to achieve the Government’s target of doubling overnight visitor expenditure to NSW by 2020.

On 19 December 2012, the NSW Government issued the Visitor Economy Industry Action Plan in response to the recommendations of the Final Report of the Visitor Economy Taskforce.

In developing the Plan, the NSW Government has considered the suitability and feasibility of each recommendation of the Final Report of the Visitor Economy Taskforce in consultation across Departments to enable a whole-of-government approach. The Visitor Economy Industry Action Plan outlines the actions for achievement by industry and Government in partnership.

Related pages

Visitor Economy Industry Action Plan

Media Release: Visitor Economy Taskforce report

Media Release: Visitor Economy Industry Action Plan delivers for NSW