Sydney’s world class events are a major draw-card for overseas visitors with new statistics showing half those attending hail from the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Germany & other parts of Europe.
Well over a million people attended last year’s Sydney New Year’s Eve & according to leading research analysts Stollznow, more than 46% travelled from overseas specifically to attend the event & stayed in Sydney for an average of 7.4 nights – 32% in central Sydney.
In addition to this, almost 90% of visitors in Sydney during New Year’s Eve said they came specifically for the event & had attended the event multiple times in previous years.
Sydney has retained its status as ‘New Year’s Eve Capital Of The World’, in terms of visitor numbers as well as the millions watching across Australia & a billion people watching around the globe.
The City is working in partnership with the New South Wales (NSW) Government to ensure Sydney New Year’s Eve remains the world’s best New Year’s Eve party.
The Sydney Chinese New Year Festival has also become the largest Lunar New Year celebration outside Asia with more than a million visitors this year attending more than 70 events over 16 days – an increase of 67% on 2015.
And this year’s festive season will see a host of new trees, decorations, light installations & events as part of a new creative vision for Sydney Christmas aiming to attract even more residents, visitors & shoppers to the city centre.
“Sydney New Year’s Eve is one of the world’s biggest 1-night events, generating more than $130 million annually in direct economic impact for NSW,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
“It’s fantastic to see our New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year & Christmas celebrations inspiring so many people from all around the world to visit Sydney,”
“Working closely with government helps us deliver world-class events for millions of people every year,”
“The City also supports seasonal celebrations with Christmas concerts, streets decorations, light installations, retail events and community grants & the new designs planned from 2016 will encourage more people to celebrate Sydney Christmas across our local area.”
In February, the City called for 3 tenders for new Christmas decorations, projections, light installations & sculptures around the city as well as new Pitt Street Mall Christmas activations for 2016.
An expression of interest for Sydney Christmas 2017–2021 was released in March seeking an innovative creative direction for the Martin Place Christmas Tree, decorations, artworks & events that will transform the new pedestrian sections of George Street & attract thousands more families and shoppers to the city centre.
“The City is looking for ideas for 2017-2021 that propose an array of visual technologies or techniques in various Sydney locations that will attract & delight audiences and visitors to our city” the Lord Mayor added.
Media Release: City Of Sydney
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