The NSW Government will launch a multi-million-dollar COVID-19 recovery tourism campaign just in time for the Queen's Birthday long weekend to target holidaymakers who would usually spend up big overseas.
From tomorrow, non-essential travel throughout NSW is allowed and some accommodation providers have already had a healthy bounce back, with weekend bookings being snapped up.
Restrictions on eating out, weddings and funerals, beauty services will also be eased tomorrow but NSW Health is urging caution, with three new cases reported in the 24 hours to 8.00pm Saturday.
All three new infections were among travellers who remain in hotel quarantine and bring the state's total number of confirmed cases to 3,095.
To coincide with the new freedom to travel, the Government will go hard on the advertising front and launch the "Now's the time to love NSW" campaign, which features a glossy TV commercial.
It has been revealed that NSW residents spent a total of $16.7 billion on overseas leisure trips last year and the Government wants to see that money kept in the state this year.
"So you can't travel the world right now? So what? NSW is here for you," the ad tells viewers.
"NSW residents took almost 2 million international leisure trips last year … so there is a huge opportunity to entice our overseas holidaymakers to become NSW's next top travellers," Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres said.
"The cumulative effect of drought, bushfires and COVID-19 has been devastating for tourism operators, so we're asking everyone who can take a holiday to hit the road or get planning as soon as possible," he said.
The commercial shows off popular travel destinations, including the Blue Mountains, the Snowy Mountains, Sydney Harbour and the Hunter Valley.
Mr Ayres said the campaign, which was planned as a bushfire-recovery package prior to the pandemic, would get "heads on beds", from those in Victoria and the ACT as well, where border restrictions do not apply.
All other states and territories plan to keep their borders shut for at least another month.
Booking surge
Although travel to NSW will be near impossible for many Australians, it seems there is no shortage of interest in intrastate travel.
There has been a 125 per cent increase in page views on VisitNSW.com in the past week according to the State Government.
Airbnb said same-state bookings in NSW jumped last week by 488 per cent month-on-month and were 15 per cent higher than the same week in 2019.
Analysing Australia-wide bookings in NSW, Airbnb said rates were already nearing pre-COVID-19 levels, recovering to almost 90 per cent of bookings in the same week last year.
A look at some of the state's most popular regional properties shows many are booked out every weekend until August.
The Tourism and Transport Forum (TFF) said Australians were eagerly awaiting a chance to travel again after months of bunkering down.
National research conducted by TFF found almost two in five people were planning to travel within their own state in the next two months, growing to almost two thirds within the next six months.
Three in four expected to maintain or increase their travel spending despite COVID 19.
The NSW tourism campaign will run throughout June and July and includes international digital advertising despite Australia's borders being closed to travellers.
Mr Ayres' office said the campaign was a continuation of the $10 million announced to revive the tourism industry after the bushfires and will be gradually rolled out as restrictions ease.
