MEDIA INFORMATION ATE 2013

BITRE’s projection is taken from its research report titled “Air An efficient welcome for passenger movements through capital and non-capital city airports to 2030-31”, published in November 2012. visitors by air and sea Other BITRE figures show that in the month of December 2012, 1.93 million international scheduled passengers moved through Sydney Airport. That constituted 41.8% of Australia’s New South Wales gives international visitors a warm welcome, total international scheduled passengers in the month. For whether they arrive by air or by sea. Sydney Airport, Australia’s comparison, the share of the next three Australian airports main gateway, saw a record number of passengers pass was Melbourne 23.1%, Brisbane 14.7% and Perth 12.2%. through last year; December 2012 was its busiest month ever. Cruise ship visits are rising swiftly as well. Sydney Harbour is SYDNEY GROWTH CONTINUES Australia’s premier cruise ship destination and the only port in Australia with two dedicated cruise passenger terminals. Airlines continue to choose Sydney as a gateway to Australia with many adding capacity. To assist, Destination NSW Destination NSW is working with industry partners to attract maintains marketing partnerships with 20 Australian and more airlines and an ever-increasing flow of tourists to overseas airlines. Destination NSW chief executive, Sandra New South Wales. The trump card for air travel is Sydney Chipchase, says industry partnerships are vital for growing Airport, Australia’s main international gateway and the the visitor economy and meeting the NSW Government’s country’s busiest airport for scheduled passenger services, target to double tourism – measured by overnight both international and domestic. Nearly half of all visitors to expenditure – by 2020. Australia enter the country through Sydney Airport and at December 2012, 39 airlines were using Sydney Airport to fly During 2012, two new international low cost carriers, Scoot to 97 destinations. and AirAsia X began daily operations to Sydney Airport. Sydney Airport has more routes, more destinations, more “Our partnerships with Destination NSW and Tourism airlines and more frequencies than any other airport in Australia were vital in attracting these services to Sydney Oceania. Over the past decade, Sydney Airport has lifted Airport,” the airport noted in its financial results for 2012. its passenger movement totals by 40%, with virtually no increase in annual aircraft movements – because airlines QANTAS AND NSW GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCE are using larger aircraft. The larger aircraft are quieter and LANDMARK PARTNERSHIP more fuel efficient. Qantas and the NSW Government recently announced a new During 2012, Sydney Airport moved a total of 36.9 million $30 million partnership to promote Sydney and regional NSW passengers, a record for the airport. This represents total to the world, the largest tourism and major events marketing passenger growth of 3.6% over the year. December was the partnership in the State’s history. airport’s busiest month on record, with passenger numbers Premier O’Farrell said the deal involved Qantas matching growing by 5.2%. the NSW Government dollar for dollar to attract more As Australia’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and international visitors particularly from the United States, Regional Economics (BITRE) puts it: “The total number [of United Kingdom, Continental Europe, China, South-East Asia, passengers through Sydney Airport] is forecast to increase Japan and New Zealand. by 3.6% a year in the next 20 years to 72 million in 2030- “This partnership with Qantas is the cornerstone of our 31. International and domestic passenger movements are strategy to increase tourism to NSW, providing a boost projected to increase by 4.5% and 3% a year over the same to our economy and helping to create more jobs,” period to 27.7 and 44.3 million, respectively, in 2030-31.” Mr O’Farrell said. “We will be aggressively targeting big spending leisure and House. On the same day, the first Qantas flights departed business travellers from overseas which will be a boon for from Sydney to London via the international hub of Dubai. our hotels, restaurants and retail sector. The two airlines will coordinate their fares, schedules, “This will build on our standing as the nation’s leader for networks, lounges and frequent flyer benefits. Combined, the international visitation and expenditure and the preferred two airlines will offer 98 flights a week between Australia and destination for key emerging markets. Dubai. Qantas will continue to operate its A380 services from Sydney and Melbourne through to London. The partnership - which sees both the NSW Government and Qantas invest $15 million each over the three years – will The Qantas/Emirates partnership should work well for include international advertising and marketing campaigns, tourism to Australia and to New South Wales. At the start marketing activities around major events and joint public of April 2013, the number of Emirates customers booked to relations activities. There will be a strong focus on digital travel on Qantas’ domestic network was almost seven times platforms including online and social media. higher than under Qantas’ previous partnership arrangement in the previous corresponding period. Destination NSW and Qantas are finalising preparations for the initial joint campaigns under the partnership, which are Both airlines are developing a global marketing campaign expected to commence in September in multiple markets. to promote Qantas destinations that are now part of the extended Emirates network. In the run-up to the new The partnership will also have a strong domestic component, partnership, Emirates opened international bookings to 32 designed at encouraging more Australians to visit NSW and the Australian destinations, including eight locations in New regions for business and leisure travel. South Wales. Emirates started selling airfares to Albury, Tourism and Major Events Minister George Souris said he was Armidale, Coffs Harbour, Dubbo, Port Macquarie, Sydney, delighted that the State had secured the landmark deal, making Tamworth and Wagga Wagga for visitors from the United Qantas the major airline partner of Destination NSW. Kingdom, Europe, North Africa, South East Asia and the “Qantas operations are based in Sydney, is our national airline Middle East. and is the biggest private investor in tourism promotion in Qantas International Chief Executive Officer Simon Hickey Australia by a long way,” Minister Souris said. said that because the partnership included tapping into “This new partnership will give us unprecedented opportunities Qantas domestic network, towns outside Australia’s capital to leverage the marketing assets of both organisations to cities also stood to benefit from the tourism generated by the deliver on the Government’s goal of doubling overnight visitor partnership. expenditure by 2020. We are looking forward to achieving even Emirates is already boosting its own capacity between Sydney greater success over the next three years.” and its Dubai hub. It will add an extra Airbus A380 service In 2012, Qantas brought 1.2 million visitors to Sydney – around to Sydney from 1 June 2013, switching one of its daily Dubai double any other airline. services to an A380, instead of a smaller Boeing B777. Sydney Airport is already one of the world’s busiest A380 ports with Qantas services 20 international destinations from Sydney and over 90 services a week. Qantas together with its airline partners including Emirates service over 150 global destinations from Sydney. The Qantas-Emirates relationship will see more passengers to and from Australia travelling through the Middle East. QANTAS/EMIRATES ALLIANCE A SEISMIC Etihad, based in Abu Dhabi, also flies through that region. SHIFT FOR AVIATION CHINA RISING TOURISM STAR Sydney Airport is the primary hub for Qantas – and one of the biggest developments in Australian aviation this year is Balancing the growth of Middle Eastern hubs is the fast rise the new close commercial partnership between Qantas and of air traffic between Australia and China, which has helped Emirates. Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce has described make China Australia’s fastest growing tourism market and the alliance as a “seismic shift for global aviation”. the biggest contributor of international visitor nights to New South Wales. It also makes China an increasingly attractive Qantas and Emirates marked the official start of their historic transit point for reaching Australia from other countries. partnership with a flyover above Sydney on March 31 using two A380 aircraft, one from Qantas and one from Emirates. Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, the largest Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce and Emirates President mover of Chinese visitors to Australia, has operated Tim Clark watched from the steps of the Sydney Opera into Australia for 12 years. Sydney is its Australasian headquarters. China Southern now flies twice daily between in Australia with two dedicated cruise-passenger terminals. Sydney and Guangzhou, and recently strengthened its links In November 2012, Sydney Harbour was voted best cruise port with Sydney by pledging support for the Sydney Festival for for the eighth consecutive year by readers of the prestigious the next three years. Cruise Passenger magazine. At last count a record 265 cruise ships were due to visit Sydney this season, up from last Another big Chinese carrier, China Eastern, began direct season’s record of 199, and the port already had 296 visits flights between Nanjing and Sydney three times a week in booked for 2013/14. December 2012, maintaining Sydney Airport’s position as Australia’s number one gateway airport for Chinese visitors. In its Economic Impact Assessment of the Cruise Shipping Industry in Australia, 2011-2012 (published in August 2012) The new services added to Sydney Airport’s already significant Cruise Down Under (CDU) stated: “After recording an increase network of major Chinese regional cities, including Beijing, of almost 30% in 2011-12, cruise ship visits to Australian ports Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Hainan Airlines flies are expected to increase by approximately 95 visits (almost between Shenzhen and Sydney and Air China flies between 13%) to an estimated 830-840 in 2012-13. Growth is projected Beijing and Sydney. The latter airline recently switched up to to be primarily driven by the Eastern Seaboard capital cities of a larger Boeing 777-300ER plane on the route, rather than an Sydney (+71 visits) and Brisbane (+30 visits).” Airbus A330. CDU represents regional ports, national and state tourism NEW DOMESTIC SERVICES agencies, shipping agents, inbound tour operators and As well as a host of international airlines, Australia’s four companies dedicated to cruising. main domestic carriers (Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar NSW Tourism and Major Events Minister George Souris has and Tiger Airways) serve Sydney Airport, along with noted that the economic benefit of the cruise shipping industry regional airlines. is enormous and is growing exponentially. Last September, Qantas announced capacity increases on key “Direct expenditure associated with the cruise shipping regional NSW routes through its regional QantasLink service. industry in Australia in 2010-11 was estimated at almost AUD • Dubbo. QantasLink has upgraded eight return services $800 million with more than half of this amount, AUD $425 between Dubbo and Sydney resulting in 384 additional seats million, coming to Sydney and Newcastle,” Mr Souris said. offered on the route each week. He said NSW had derived the greatest economic benefit from • Port Macquarie. Customers can access an extra 88 seats the cruise shipping industry in 2010-11; “more than double all each week for services between Port Macquarie and Sydney other states”. as a result of three Q300 aircraft services being upgraded “And of course, when cruiseliners sail into Sydney there’s to a Q400 aircraft. a spin-off for nearby regional areas such as the Blue • Wagga Wagga. On Sundays QantasLink has upgraded one Mountains,” Mr Souris added. return service from a 50-seat Q300 aircraft to a 74-seat Q400 aircraft. • Albury . A return service on Saturday has been upgraded from a 50 seat Q300 aircraft to a 74-seat Q400 aircraft. Qantas domestic rival Tiger Airways, meanwhile, launched its first intrastate NSW service in February 2013 – from Sydney to Coffs Harbour, one of NSW’s most popular regional destinations. The addition of up to 1,800 seats per week between Sydney and Coffs Harbour makes it easier for overseas visitors to fly north out of Sydney to the Coffs Coast region, known for its mild climate, fine resorts and classic Australian surf beaches.

CRUISING INTO NSW Not everyone arrives in Sydney by air. Sydney Harbour is Australia’s premier cruise ship destination – and the only port WHO’S AT ATE13 Destination NSW. Booth 133. www.destinationnsw.com.au China Southern Airlines. Booth number 152. www.csair.com.au Qantas Airways. Booth number 202. www.qantas.com.au Sydney Seaplanes. Booth 110. www.seaplanes.com.au Virgin Australia. Booth number 297. www.virginaustralia.com

For more information go to visitnsw.com or sydney.com To access the image library and download images go to images.destinationnsw.com.au MEDIA CONTACTS: Tanya Bowes General Manager, Communications Destination NSW T: 61 2 9931 1436 M: 61 (0) 477 361 749 [email protected] Elissa Tyrrell A/Executive Manager, Media & Public Relations Destination NSW T: 61 2 9931 1426 M: 61 (0) 421 130 440 [email protected]