Insights - 3 February 2023
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THE BEST BEACHES IN NSW
Beach expert Brad Farmer has crowned Boomerang Beach on the NSW Mid North Coast as the state's best beach on his Best Australian Beaches 2023 list.
Mr Farmer has spent more than four decades researching and visiting Australia’s accessible beaches.
"The coast scape here on the Barrington Coast portion of the mid north coast of NSW is among the top five best seaside stretches in Australia’s southern half," Mr Farmer said.
"Boomerang is east facing and simply spectacular, a sensory feast and dog friendly, around sunrise and sunset."
Boomerang Beach was second on Mr Farmer's Best Australian Beaches 2023 list, behind Stokes Bay on Kangaroo Island.
Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said: “There is no doubt Australia is globally renowned for its beaches and they are a major reason international travellers visit.
"With about 12,000 beaches to explore across our country, including many of the best in the world, it is not easy to name a ‘Top 10’ and we once again thank Brad for doing just that.”
Mr Farmer's picks for 2023 also included Sydney's Balmoral Beach in 10th place.
"With over 100 beaches peppered around Sydney’s magnificent salty shored Harbour, many consider Balmoral its finest jewel set in palatial urban leafy surrounds," Mr Farmer said.
"It’s simply majestic and is one of the world’s most beautiful city beaches."
SYDNEY GAY AND LESBIAN MARDI GRAS ROUTE JOINS STATE HERITAGE REGISTER
Key city roads that have forged the path of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade since 1978 have been added to the NSW State Heritage Register.
This acknowledgement of the pivotal role the 2.4km route has played in shaping the social history of NSW coincides with the 45th year of the parade and comes ahead of Sydney hosting WorldPride 2023.
The heritage-listed route includes parts of Oxford Street, Flinders Street, Anzac Parade and Darlinghurst Road, as well as the Darlinghurst Police Station, where protesters were arrested.
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras CEO Albert Kruger said the impact of LGBTIQA+ pioneers who first walked the route in 1978 was still felt today.
“Oxford Street and its surrounds have a deep-rooted connection to the equality movement in Australia and have long been a safe space for our communities to gather, celebrate and protest,” Mr Kruger said.
“State Heritage recognition of the Parade route is an international statement on the importance of creating and protecting LGBTIQA+ spaces.”
For more information, visit the Heritage NSW website.
SYDNEY GAY AND LESBIAN MARDI GRAS
BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade will return to Oxford Street on 25 February 2023.
The centrepiece of the Sydney WorldPride Festival will see more than 12,500 marchers and 200 floats fill Oxford Street for the first time since 2020.
This year's Festival theme, "Gather, Dream, Amplify," comes to life as bigger floats, lighting and firework shows elevate the spectacle of the Parade along the entire revamped route from Hyde Park to Moore Park.
This year’s Mardi Gras will feature more than 300 events over 17 days.
VIVID SYDNEY 2023 LOCAL BUSINESS PROGRAM
Destination NSW is calling for restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs, retailers, hotels, cruise operators, entertainment venues, visitor attractions and tour providers to present their ideas, deals and experiences for inclusion in the 2023 Vivid Sydney Local Business Program.
Vivid Sydney 2023 will run from 26 May to 17 June and will provide a unique opportunity to create memorable moments in Sydney.
Businesses are encouraged to host a one-of-a-kind Vivid Sydney experience, exclusive offer, or lighting up their building façade or cruise vessel to entice customers to visit, dine, stay or shop. Destination NSW will help promote these activities to engaged audiences on our social channels.
Those involved will receive access to free Vivid Sydney Local Business Program assets to highlight their involvement and attract customers, such as round LED screens or window decals and posters, which will be professionally installed.
If you missed the Local Business Program live webinar, click here to register and view a recording of the session.
HOLE IN ONE FOR REGIONAL NSW
Regional NSW will benefit from a bumper program of men’s and women’s golf events between 2024 and 2026, thanks to a partnership between Golf NSW, Destination NSW and the Department of Regional NSW. The 51 golf events, which include the Australian Women’s Classic, Men’s and Women’s NSW Open Championships and regional qualifying events, are expected to provide a huge boost to regional NSW. They are projected to attract more than 16,000 visitors to the host regions and generate an estimated $13.5 million into the economy. NSW has more than 166,000 registered golfers and upwards of 370 courses.
CONVENTION BUREAUX MERGER UPDATE
Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) members have supported a special resolution to establish a new peak body with the Australian Convention Centres Group and the Exhibition and Events Association of Australasia. AACB President Michael Matthews said: “This outcome is an important one for our industry and comes at a critical time to face future challenges and strive for growth towards 2030 targets together. A new industry peak with a sustainable business model will be able to achieve far more and have greater influence than smaller under-resourced groups with competing priorities.”
SYDNEY TO HOST ASIA MEGA FAMIL
The Business Events Australia Asia Mega Famil Showcase will be held in Sydney in April 2023. Tourism Australia and BESydney are co-hosting the event, which will welcome delegates from India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. “The Asia Mega Famil Showcase presents an opportunity for buyers and media to experience first-hand the wealth of new product available in Australia and for industry to capitalise on the short-lead business coming from the region,” said Tourism Australia’s Robin Mack.
NEW VENUE FOR FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP
Stadium Australia has been named as the new venue for Australia’s FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 opener against Ireland on 20 July. The venue has an 80,000-seat capacity, giving more football fans the chance to attend. The tournament forms part of the Destination NSW 10 World Cups in 10 Years initiative and is projected to inject $21 million into the state’s economy. Eleven games will be held in Sydney during the tournament, including a semi-final and the final. Additional single match passes will go on sale on 24 February.
FREE INBOUND STRATEGY WORKSHOPS
Learn how to attract international
visitors to book your tour, attraction or accommodation at a free Inbound Strategy Workshop delivered by Destination NSW as part of its NSW First Program. These one-day workshops set out the tools and steps for businesses to tailor experiences for international visitor markets, how to become export ready, and how to sell experiences via online travel agents and inbound travel trade. Register now: Central Coast, 7 February; Hunter Region, 9 February; Coffs Harbour, 14 February; Port Macquarie, 16 February; online
workshop (Zoom), 21 February; Griffith, 23 February; Orange, 8 March.
AUSTRALIAN ATHLETICS TEAM ANNOUNCED
Athletics Australia has finalised its 28-strong team for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 2023. They include Commonwealth champion Oliver Hoare and Tokyo Olympic finalist Jessica Hull, who will join Olympian Stewart McSweyn and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Abbey Caldwell, in the Mixed 4x2km Relay Team – earmarked as the host nation’s best medal-winning chance. The event, which is proudly supported by Destination NSW, will take place from 17-19 February. Alongside the championship races will be a number of mass participation races to allow runners, walkers and sports fans to race the same course as their elite counterparts.
AAFW: THE EXPERIENCE PROGRAM 2023
IMG has announced its program for Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (AAFW): The Experience 2023. Supported by Destination NSW and taking place from 15–19 May, the event will give consumers exclusive access to designer shows and events. The line-up includes Cue, Erik Yvon, Gary Bigeni, Iordanes Spyridon Gogos, Karla Špetić and Michael Lo Sordo, alongside group showcases from David Jones Indigenous Fashion Projects, TAFE NSW’s Fashion Design Studio and AAFW’s emerging designer program.
MUSLIM HOST TRAINING PROGRAM
The growth of the Muslim population and their increasing disposable income have resulted in a large number of Muslims taking up travel for leisure, business, healthcare and religious reasons. This increase has resulted in Muslim travellers becoming one of the fastest growing travel segments in the tourism industry. ATEC and Tourism Australia have created a ‘Muslim Host - Market & Culture Ready' training program aimed at providing insights on how to service the needs of the Muslim traveller.
NEW WESTINVEST PROJECTS ANNOUNCED
State-of-the-art sporting facilities, walking and cycling tracks and a range of arts and environmental projects valued at $268 million will be funded through the NSW Government’s $5 billion WestInvest program. The funding for councils and community groups in the Blue Mountains and Penrith will deliver 30 infrastructure projects.
WESTERN SYDNEY BIKE BLUEPRINT
More than 600km of bike lanes are planned in Western Sydney under the Transport for NSW Strategic Cycleway Corridors Program, aimed at creating a connected cycleway network. The bike lane blueprint maps out 58 corridors stretching from Box Hill to Burwood, down to Macarthur and back up to Western Sydney Airport and Penrith.
NEWCASTLE 500 TRACK BUILD KICKS OFF
Temporary construction work for the Thrifty Newcastle 500 track, Supercars first event in Newcastle since 2019, has begun. The event will run from 10-12 March 2023 and is supported by Destination NSW. Supercars CEO Shane Howard said: “We have almost sold out the corporate facilities and grandstand tickets are getting very close to being sold out as well.”
MOST INSTAGRAMMABLE PLACES
Sydney has been named the 10th most Instagrammable place in the world by global travel site Big 7 Travel. The scoring system analysed the number of hashtags and TikTok views for each destination, along with a sample survey from Big 7 media’s 1.5-million audience and global editorial team. Sydney received 35,638,423 hashtags on Instagram and 15,100,000,000 TikTok views.
BLUE MOUNTAINS BOOSTED BY STAR VISIT
Hollywood actors Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes have promoted the Blue Mountains to the world during a visit to the destination. The pair went to Scenic World and shared a bushwalking video on Instagram. Scenic World posted about the star couple's visit on its Facebook page: "We were so thrilled that Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes and their family chose to visit Scenic World. They were the most charming, warm, and wonderful guests - so interested in all elements of the Blue Mountains including the native flora, fauna, geology, World Heritage status, Indigenous culture and history of the region and Scenic World."
LIGHT SHOW FOR THE MURRAY
A first-of-its-kind light installation along the Murray River will help attract visitors and boost the regional visitor economy. The interactive light show is being brought to life by a $4.99 million grant from the Department of Regional NSW’s Regional Tourism Activation Fund. It will be supported by 15 glamping sites and food stalls and trucks that will become a permanent fixture. Work on the installation by artist Bruce Munro is expected to start in the second half of 2023 and will create a drawcard in Wentworth Shire for more than 178,000 visitors a year, worth an estimated $53 million to the economy.
VISITOR ECONOMY WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS
MORE THAN $1 MILLION FOR NEW ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS: Six research projects that will help protect threatened species and address the impacts of climate change are receiving more than $1 million in grants from the NSW Department of Planning and Environment through the Environmental Research Grants Program. Learn more
FUNDING BOOST FOR KOALA RESEARCH: The NSW Department of Planning and Environment is investing more than $1.3 million in eight research projects as part of the more than $190 million NSW Koala Strategy, with the goal of doubling the number of koalas in NSW by 2050. Learn more
BACKING SPORTING EQUALITY FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS: Women and girls across NSW will have access to more inclusive sporting facilities, thanks to the Office of Sport’s $25 million Female Friendly Sport Facilities and Lighting Upgrades Program. Learn more
FOLLOW DESTINATION NSW ON LINKEDIN: Stay up to date with all the latest Destination NSW initiatives by following us on LinkedIn. Click here
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