Cultural Tourism in Regional NSW

Written By Patternmakers

Last year, cultural tourism experiences in regional NSW attracted an estimated 5.8 million visitors, who generated $6.2 billion in visitor expenditure in the State.

That makes it larger than the cultural tourism sector in metro NSW, and any other regional area of the country.

Cultural tourism, while pivotal for the economy, is also socially and culturally important, enabling visitors to learn and engage with Australian communities in a deeper way.

In 2024, the NSW Regional Arts Network commissioned Patternmakers to produce a new analysis of cultural tourism in regional NSW. In light of the NSW Government's focus on 'experience tourism', this report provides insights into the scale of cultural tourism and opportunities to support its development.

As part of this project, we produced a database that confirmed at least 3,200 cultural tourism experiences on offer in regional NSW — the largest picture of cultural tourism to date. 

With tourism still recovering from the pandemic, there are signs that authentic, engaging cultural tourism experiences will be important for the future growth of the tourism industry.

Download the Report

Click the button below for the full story on the state of cultural tourism in regional NSW, including five areas of opportunity for development and regional snapshots of 15 Regional Arts Development Organisations (RADOs). 

 

Data was collected by a scan of existing literature, stakeholder interviews and collating available tourism listings from various sources. Regional Arts Development Officers (RADO) were invited to add missing experiences active in their regions.

The NSW Regional Arts Network and Patternmakers would like to acknowledge the participants in this research, who took their time to contribute to this study, and the organisations involved.

If you have any thoughts or questions about the research, get in touch with us via info@thepatternmakers.com.au.

 

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