The Member for Oxley, Melinda Pavey MP, said the results also show the importance of NSW North Coast tourism.

“The latest independent survey results show that our beautiful region welcomed 5.6 million domestic tourists and 353,700 international travellers,” she said.

“And these domestic visitors to the North Coast spent $3.5 billion during their stay, which is an increase of 16.1 per cent on the previous year.”

“This means more heads on beds, people in restaurants, cafes, pubs and shops, spending money and driving our local visitor economy.”

Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said NSW is in a golden era.

“These impressive numbers are turbocharging our economy, generating jobs and driving investment in local communities,” Mr Marshall said.

“Internationally, NSW received 4.3 million visitors who stayed 95.5 million nights and spent $10.6 billion.

“Domestically, we welcomed 33.6 million overnight visitors who stayed 105.1 million nights, and for the first time ever, these visitors spent more than $20 billion.”

These increases show that domestic and international visitors have made their choice and reaffirmed NSW as Australia’s premier tourism state.

The national and international visitor surveys are released by Tourism Research Australia. For more on the survey results for year ending September 2018, head over to www.tra.gov.au. 

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