New South Wales

New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, contains one third of Australia’s population.  It is bounded by Queensland in the north, Victoria in the south and South Australia in the west and encompasses the whole of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook in 1770 and the first British settlement made by the First Fleet in 1788.  Originally the colony of New South Wales incorporated much of the Australian mainland as well as Van Diemen’s Land, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island.  The three largest cities are Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong.

Since the 1070s New South Wales has experienced increasingly rapid economic and social development.  New industries such as information technologies and financial services, located predominantly in Sydney, are replacing some of the older industries such as steel and shipbuilding, although agriculture is still important.

Coal and related products are the state’s biggest export, but tourism has also become important.  New South Wales continues to be Australia’s number one state for visitor nights.  Sydney, as Australia’s leading gateway, is the most popular destination for overseas visitors. New South Wales attracts 53% of international visitors ahead of Queensland, 37%, and Victoria, 30%. 

In 2010 domestic and international visitors to NSW destinations outside Sydney generated a staggering 144.5 million nights of accommodation in regional areas and $18.4 billion in tourist expenditure.  Over the two year period September 2008 to September 2010 New South Wales gained 4.9 million visitor nights of which 2.7 million were holiday visitor nights.

Although New South Wales has experienced some market share erosion to Victoria and Queensland in the business and education accommodation sectors, there is still a strong need for corporate accommodation.

With increasing density of permanent accommodation in the major urban centres and such strong provision for both holiday and corporate accommodation, accommodation providers are supported by a thriving Management Rights industry.