In this section we give a snapshot of the NSW tourism and events sector and connect you to the State’s extensive tourism network.
NSW is Australia’s top performing tourism state. More visitors come to NSW and stay longer and spend more than in any other state in Australia.
NSW Visitor Snapshot
Domestic Tourism
- In the year ended (YE) June 2023, NSW received 36.2 million domestic overnight visitors (up 45.4% on YE June 2022) and 66.5 million domestic daytrip visitors (up 59.7%).
- NSW continued to lead with a 32.5% share of Australia’s domestic overnight visitors.
- The largest proportion of the overnight visitors came from Regional NSW (37.8%) and Sydney (31.8%), followed by Victoria (11.6%) and Queensland (10.3%).
- The average length of stay in NSW for domestic overnight visitors was 3.2 nights.
International Tourism
- In YE June 2023, NSW received 2.7 million international visitors (up 451.3% on previous year). These visitors stayed 67.8 million nights (up 221.5%) in the State and spent an estimated $8.6 billion (up 344.8%).
- NSW continued to lead with a 50.3% share of Australia’s international visitors.
Source: National and International Visitor Surveys, Tourism Research Australia (TRA).
Tourism Forecasts
In December 2022, Tourism Research Australia provided 2022-27 forecasts of international and domestic visitors, nights and expenditure for Australia, as well as outbound departures from Australia.
There were 9.5 million international visitor arrivals to Australia in 2018-19. This is forecast to grow from 2022 to 2027 to reach 11 million.
New Zealand will remain as the top international market with 1.6 million arrivals by 2027, followed by Europe excluding UK (1 million) and USA (950,000). The markets forecast to have the strongest recovery include India and New Zealand.
Source: Tourism Forecasts 2022, Tourism Research Australia (TRA)
More Information
Latest quarterly NSW tourism data and additional research and analysis
