NSW Premier urges visitors to venture beyond Sydney Harbour, Bondi Beach

NSW Premier urges visitors to venture beyond Sydney Harbour, Bondi Beach
By James Harrison


Tourists to NSW need to go beyond the iconic Sydney tourist landmarks like the Harbour and Bondi Beach and take in the wealth of NSW’s tourism offerings, NSW Premier Chris Minns said yesterday.

Speaking at the Tourist & Transport Forum’s (TTF) industry luncheon where TTF CEO, Margy Osmond, announced its reconciliation action plan, Minns acknowledged that while Sydney has “the finest harbour in the world without exception,” visitors need to look further.

“We can’t just rely on Sydney Harbour,” Minns told the room. “We have to think beyond that.”

“We want to see people come to a place like Sydney and explore more than just the harbour or more than just our major cultural centres and perhaps spend more money in other parts of the state.”

Chris Minns speaking at the TTF event (Source: The Office of Premier Minns)

Minns highlighted how Sydney is a city like no other, spotlighting the nearby national parks and world-class beaches not far away from the CBD.

“It’s unique to us,” he said.

“Wherever you are located in Sydney you are not far from being on an isolated track in the middle of a national park and if you’re heading east, you could more often than not hit a deserted beach.”

But Minns has urged travellers to visit unique destinations within NSW after visiting Sydney, such as those along the NSW South Coast.

“So if [international visitors] do come to Sydney, they’ll see the harbour, they’ll see Bondi beach. But if they could spend that extra week… and explore the New South Wales South Coast, well that’s fantastic.”

He continued: “Merimbula, for example, is a place where you could go for a surf in the morning, get in the car and go skiing right after lunch. There would be about five or six places in the whole world where you could do that and we’ve got that right here in NSW.”

Minns in discussion with Osmond (Source: The office of Premier Minns)

Minns also took the opportunity to highlight reforms being made to Sydney’s nightlife, particularly as the city has lost half of its live music venues since the beginning of the pandemic.

“There’s an urgent need to change some of the rules and regulations around vibrancy in the city,” Minns said, adding plans to attract more major cultural entertainment or sporting events such as the changes made to the concert cap at Moore Park.

“Melbourne’s done that pretty well and in Sydney we’re a fair way behind,” he said.

(Featured Image: Chris Minns speaking at the TTF event – The Office of Premier Minns)

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