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Hunter Valley stars in record-breaking international visitation to NSW

Hunter Valley
The popularity of the Hunter Valley as a world-wide tourism destination has played a significant role in NSW’s record-breaking success in a recent International Visitor Survey.
 
Chairman of the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association (HVWTA) the Hon George Souris AM, said the Hunter Valley had played a significant role in the heavy tourism lifting that yielded the record-breaking results.
 
NSW recorded the strongest results ever recorded in an International Visitor Survey, with the State welcoming just over four million overseas visitors who spent $10.1 billion in NSW in the year ending June 2017. 
Rural and regional NSW has also set visitation records, posting its highest volumes of international visitors, nights and expenditure on record, welcoming 813,000 international visitors who stayed 14.8 million nights and spent $1.1 billion, up more than 22 per cent.
‘The Hunter Valley is Australia’s premium wine-growing region and is an iconic food and wine destination,’ Mr Souris said.
‘And the word is spreading – not just across the country, but across the world.’
 
The Hunter Valley captures 18.1% of inbound Australia-wide international wine tourism, well ahead of the Margaret River at 13.4% and the Barossa at 9.4%.
 
The increasingly popular Hunter region is just a two-hour drive north of Sydney, and in easy proximity to the Central Coast and Newcastle, as well as gateway arrivals via Sydney, Newcastle Airport and in the future, Newcastle Cruise Ship terminal.
At home to more than 150 wineries, the Hunter Valley is bursting with all the delights of its highly-acclaimed food and wine culture.
The HVWTA is gearing up to shout its attractions far and wide through a major destination marketing campaign in the coming months. The Association is also developing proposals for regional conferencing opportunities.
 
Mr Souris congratulated Destination NSW and the Minister for Tourism Hon Adam Marshall MP for the work it had done building the state’s appeal as an international tourist destination. NSW has made Australian tourism history, setting several new national records and a series of NSW all-time records for overseas visitation.
 
“Events like the Supercars and our thriving program of concert and live music events enhance the attraction of our region,” Mr Souris concluded.