NSW State Tourism Statistics

Tourism regions of New South Wales

Blue Mountains Capital Country Central Coast Central NSW Murray New England North West North Coast Outback NSW Riverina Snowy Mountains South Coast Sydney and Surrounds The Hunter

NSW Region Map

Sydney and Surrounds

Bordering towns

  • Campbelltown
  • Palm Beach
  • Penrith
  • Picton
  • Richmond
  • Sutherland
  • Wisemans Ferry
4 April 2014

Notes on the National Visitor Survey (NVS) and International Visitor Survey (IVS) data

Destination NSW prepares several reports, fact sheets and statistical tables based on Tourism Research Australia’s (TRA) International Visitor Survey (IVS) and National Visitor Survey (NVS) results.

The IVS interviews 40,000 departing short-term international travellers to Australia aged 15 years and over. The survey is conducted in the departure lounges of the eight major Australian international airports including Sydney airport. From April 2020, IVS interviewing was suspended following the closure of Australia’s international borders. IVS results from June quarter 2020 were estimated by TRA using the Overseas Arrivals and Departure statistics and other Immigration data from the Department of Home Affairs. The NVS interviews 120,000 Australian residents aged 15 years and over. The survey is conducted through telephone interviewing.

As part of continuous improvement, TRA have made several revisions to the IVS and NVS through the years.

Changes to overseas arrivals data has led TRA to revise IVS estimates in the December 2018 data release. The revisions focus on purpose-of-visit estimates, with minimal change to visitor, nights and spend estimates.

From 2019, TRA has transitioned NVS sampling to 100% mobile phone interviewing (from half mobile phone/half landline). This represents a break in time series, so care should be taken when comparing latest results with previous time periods.

NSW State Visitor Statistics

NSW continues to be the number one State for total visitor nights, visitor numbers and visitor expenditure.

Travel to NSW Key Statistics June 2023 (PDF 228 kb)
Combined summary of international, domestic overnight and daytrip visitation to NSW.

Travel to NSW Key Statistics archive:

Mar 2023 (PDF 246 kb)
Dec 2022 (PDF 247 kb)
Sept 2022 (PDF 248 kb)
June 2022 (PDF 174 kb)
March 2022 (PDF 253 kb)
December 2021 (PDF 237 kb)
September 2021 (PDF 206 kb)
June 2021 (PDF 202 kb)

Travel to NSW Time Series June 2023 (PDF 331 kb)
Domestic and international tourism trend data for NSW.

Travel to NSW Time Series archive:

Mar 2023 (PDF 311 kb)
Dec 2022 (PDF 312 kb)
Sept 2022 (PDF 312 kb)
June 2022 (PDF 306 kb)
March 2022 (PDF 314 kb)
December 2021 (PDF 231 kb)
September 2021 (PDF 314 kb)
June 2021 (PDF 308 kb)

Domestic Visitor Statistics

Notes on the National Visitor Survey (NVS) data

Domestic visitor statistics are sourced from Tourism Research Australia’s (TRA) National Visitor Survey (NVS). From 2019, TRA changed the NVS methodology with 100% mobile interviewing from half mobile phone and half fixed-line interviewing to reflect current phone usage trends. Care should be taken when comparing NVS results with those prior to January 2019.

Monthly Domestic Overnight Travel to NSW September 2023 (PDF 168 kb)

Monthly Domestic Overnight Travel to NSW archive:
August 2023 (PDF 205 kb)
July 2023 (PDF 167 kb)
June 2023 (PDF 272 kb)
May 2023 (PDF 292 kb)
April 2023 (PDF 510 kb)
March 2023 (PDF 510 kb)
February 2023 (PDF 510 kb)
January 2023 (PDF 510 kb)
December 2022 (PDF 508 kb)
November 2022 (PDF 508 kb)
October 2022 (PDF 497 kb)
September 2022 (PDF 503 kb)

Domestic Overnight Travel to NSW Key Statistics June 2023 (PDF 218 kb)

Domestic Overnight Travel to NSW Key Statistics archive:

Mar 2022 (PDF 229 kb)
Dec 2022 (PDF 229 kb)
Sept 2022 (PDF 231 kb)
June 2022 (PDF 331 kb)
March 2022 (PDF 234 kb)
September 2021 (PDF 195 kb)
June 2021 (PDF 190 kb)
March 2021 (PDF 232 kb)

Domestic Travel to NSW (NVS) Snapshot June 2023 (PDF 358 kb)
Latest domestic visitation to NSW. This report covers visitor nights, source markets, visitation to Regional NSW, purpose of visit, transport and accommodation statistics.

Domestic Travel to NSW (NVS) Snapshot archive:
Mar 2023 (PDF 353 kb)
Dec 2022 (PDF 871 kb)
Sept 2022 (PDF 864 kb)
June 2022 (PDF 863 kb)
March 2022 (PDF 388 kb)
December 2021 (PDF 345 kb)
September 2021 (PDF 271 kb)
June 2021 (PDF 341 kb)

Full National Visitor Survey (NVS) Report
Produced by Tourism Research Australia.

International Visitor Statistics

Notes on the International Visitor Survey (IVS) data

International visitor statistics are sourced from Tourism Research Australia’s (TRA) International Visitor Survey (IVS). The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) changed the methodology for the Overseas Arrivals and Departures (OAD) data and the revised OAD time series from July 2004. As the IVS data is weighted to the OAD data, TRA adjusted the IVS time series from January 2005 to reflect changes to the OAD.

Recent changes to overseas arrivals data has led TRA to revise IVS estimates in the December 2018 data release. The revisions focus on purpose-of-visit estimates, with minimal change to visitor, nights and spend estimates. Care should be taken when comparing current IVS data with previously published data.

Tourism Research Australia (TRA) has advised Destination NSW that IVS data to YE Dec 2022 is not publishable due to the inclusion of partially imputed data. Imputed data is inferred data which is not fit for analysis purposes at granular levels. As the sample is still mixed with imputed data it cannot be published beyond state level visitor, nights and expenditure.

TRA has advised that March 2023 quarter will be the first full quarter of collected sample, and as such the first quarter of publishable data. This means that it will take until YE Dec 23 to collect a full 12 months of data. As a result, prior period comparisons for full IVS reporting will not recommence until mid 2024.

International Travel to NSW Key Statistics June 2023 (PDF 228 kb)

International Travel to NSW Key Statistics archive:
Mar 2023 (PDF 177 kb)
Dec 2022 (PDF 177 kb)
Sept 2022 (PDF 228 kb)
June 2022 (PDF 220 kb)
December 2020 (PDF 223 kb)
September 2020 (PDF 240 kb)
June 2020 (PDF 188 kb)
March 2020 (PDF 582 kb)

International Travel to NSW (IVS) Snapshot June 2023 (PDF 171 kb)

Latest international visitation to NSW. This report covers visitors and visitor nights, source markets, first and repeat visitation, purpose of visit, transport and accommodation statistics.

International Travel to NSW (IVS) Snapshot archive:

March 2023 (PDF 273 kb)
December 2022 (PDF 273 kb)
September 2022 (PDF 273 kb)
June 2022 (PDF 272 kb)
March 2022 (PDF 278 kb)
December 2021 (PDF 250 kb)
September 2021 (PDF 277 kb)
December 2020 (PDF 260 kb)
September 2020 (PDF 995 kb)
June 2020 (PDF 1,024 kb)

Full International Visitor Survey (IVS) report
Produced by Tourism Research Australia.

Related pages

Sydney tourism statistics - Domestic and international tourism statistics for Sydney tourism.

Regional tourism statistics - Domestic and international tourism statistics for NSW tourism regions.


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