27 Mar 2024
Destination NSW workshop fuels growth for NSW visitor economy businesses
International and domestic travel buyers were treated to a special preview of some of the state's newest visitor experiences at the Destination NSW New Product Workshop held this week at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
The workshop, which was attend by 19 visitor economy businesses across the state, provided a valuable forum for businesses to engage with travel buyers including inbound tour operators, domestic wholesalers and online travel agents.
With more than 500 buyer appointments held, among the new visitor experiences showcased at the workshop were:
- Twelve accommodation options suitable for road trips
- Six new culinary and agritourism experiences
- Two new eco certified experiences
- Four new wellness experiences
- Four natured-based experiences
- One new multi-sensory experience for the visually impaired.
Destination NSW CEO Steve Cox said: “The Destination NSW New Product Workshop is a fantastic forum that brings together many of the organisations and individuals who define the Sydney and NSW visitor experience.
“Whether it’s our thriving arts and culture scene, world-class culinary offerings or our regional areas that have their own unique character, by highlighting these new stays and experiences to travel distributors, we tap into the talent and diverse cultures that help tell our state’s story, which sets NSW apart from other states.”
Co-Founders of Stay n’ Sip Pierre Toumanoff and Mercedes Mendoza said the format of the New Product Workshop was well-planned, giving operators the opportunity to focus on selling their product to high-quality buyers in both the domestic and international markets.
“We commend the team at Destination NSW who took our hand and supported us throughout every step of the process, helping us to refine our commissionable product. We made great connections and look forward to working with those buyers to show off the many world-class tourism experiences we have here in NSW.”
To help prepare businesses for the workshop, Destination NSW provided distribution development support including inbound strategy and seller training workshops, as well as one-to-one assistance.
The Destination NSW New Product Workshop is part of the NSW First Program, a capability-building program delivered by Destination NSW to help businesses in the visitor economy develop, promote and sell visitor experiences.
For more information in the NSW First Program, go to www.destinationnsw.com.au/nsw-first-program.
The NSW visitor economy businesses that attended the New Product Workshop were:
Sydney
- Art Gallery of NSW - participating venue
- Salty Safaris
- Sensory Tourism Australia
Sydney Surrounds South
- Cupitt’s Estate (Mollymook)
- Osborn House (Southern Highlands)
- Sea Kayak (Jervis Bay)
Sydney Surrounds North
- Quest Apartments Newcastle & Quest Apartments Newcastle West
- Stay n’ Sip (Hunter Valley)
- Tower Lodge (Hunter Valley)
North Coast
- Avion Retreat (Tweed Valley)
- Better by Bike (Northern Rivers)
- Ecoasis (Tweed Valley)
- Husk Farm Distillery (Tweed Valley)
- The Brooklet (Byron Bay Hinterland)
Southern NSW
- Jaguar Stay (Mogo)
- Somnium at Bingie
Central West
- Basalt Luxury Accommodation (Orange)
- RedGround Australia (Oberon)
Riverina Murray
- Kestrel Nest EcoHut (Snowy Valleys)
MEDIA: [email protected]
About Destination NSW
Destination NSW is the lead agency, champion and voice for the visitor economy within the NSW Government. Destination NSW influences and shapes the visitor economy through strategic research, policy and thought leadership, stakeholder engagement and consultation, commercial partnerships and investment in visitor experiences, business support, marketing and events. Destination NSW is also the major investor in Business Events Sydney (BESydney) for the purpose of securing more international and domestic conventions, incentive travel reward programs, corporate events and exhibitions for Sydney and regional NSW.
Note to editors
Video, images and editorial can be found in the Destination NSW Content Library.