New tourism campaign shows Sydney is open for business again

The lucrative events industry has been devastated by coronavirus with an estimated $36 billion wiped from the economy.Now, a new campaign about to launch is letting corporate visitors know Sydney is once again open for business.This is a first look at the strategy to revive our city’s struggling tourism industry.

The ‘It’s got to be Sydney’ campaign goes live on Monday targeting businesses.”We want businesses booking their corporate events, booking their conferences, getting back in and supporting the NSW and particularly the Sydney economy,” NSW Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres said.Corporate tourists spend on average $222 a night in Sydney – almost double that of holiday makers but the real economic benefits are much broader.”These tourists when they meet face-to-face, also do trade deals, there’s investment done, there’s talent attraction,” Lyn Lewis-Smith of Business Events Sydney told 9News.

Sydney’s $1.5 billion International Convention Centre usually hosts 700 events a year but since March, it’s had to stand down 1600 casual and full time staff.It’s now promoting hybrid events. And with very few meetings or conferences, hotels are also suffering.At the height of the pandemic, hotel occupancy here in Sydney dropped to just 10 percent. It’s now sitting at about 35 per cent but that’s still nowhere near pre-COVID levels of 80 percent.

While corporate events are currently capped at 300 people the Tourism Minister remains hopefully things will return to normal soon.”Hopefully by the end of the year, we’ll see more restrictions reduced that will allow larger events are more people to come back together,” Mr Ayres said.

source: https://bit.ly/2IN36Yo