Welcome to HarbourView – the Tourism & Transport Forum’s vision for revitalising Sydney as Australia’s international gateway and premier tourism destination. Sydney Harbour is the heart and soul of Sydney. The harbour foreshore is the place where our global city meets our natural and cultural heritage, to create our unique lifestyle. HarbourView is the collective aspiration and endeavours of the tourism industry to celebrate, energise and recraft the vibrancy of Sydney Harbour. We wish to thank the members of TTF’s Sydney Harbour Tourism Panel and all the tourism industry entrepreneurs, investors, managers and staff who have contributed to this vision. We hope you will support HarbourView and our campaign to revitalise Australia’s leading destination. Hon Bruce Baird AM Evan Hall Chairman National Policy Director For further information please contact: Evan Hall National Policy Director Tourism & Transport Forum T +61 02 9240 2035 E [email protected] 8th Floor 8-10 Loftus Street Sydney NSW 2000 T +61 2 9240 2000 F +61 2 9240 2020 www.ttf.org.au CONTENTS HARBOURVIEW 6 A Vision for Sydney Harbour 6 Revitalising Sydney Harbour 7 HARBOUR JOURNEYS 8 The Great Harbour Walk 10 Harbour Hopper 11 Harbour Journeys Map 12 The Harbour Islands 14 Harbour Chopper 15 The Barangaroo Flyer Light Rail 16 Cruise Shipping Harbour Terminals 17 HARBOUR NIGHTS 18 Unique Harbour Nights 20 Hotel Accommodation 21 HARBOURSIDE EAST 22 Sydney Opera House 24 Circular Quay and The Rocks 25 Museum of Contemporary Art 26 Sydney Harbour Bridge 27 HARBOURSIDE WEST 28 Barangaroo Headland Park and Waterfront Walk 30 National Indigenous Centre 30 Barangaroo Central 31 Barangaroo South and the Harbour Hotel 31 Walsh Bay Arts District 32 Darling Harbour Events Precinct 33 Star City 34 Sydney Fish Market 34 Bays Precinct 35 Luna Park 35 SHOWCASING THE HARBOUR 36 Sydney Events Calendar 38 Marketing Sydney 39 Connecting with Locals 40 Sydney Harbour – A National Landscape 41 SOURCES: International Visitor Survey (IVS) and National Visitor Survey (NVS), Tourism Research Australia, year ending June 2010 Regional Tourism Employment in Australia, 2006-07 to 2008-09, Tourism Research Australia International Trade in Goods and Services, Australian Bureau of Statistics, cat. No 5368.0 SYDNEY TOURISM FACTS & FIGURES In the year to June 2010, 2.6 million international tourists arrived in Sydney staying for 53.2 million nights. Sydney tourism exports total $5.1 billion: larger than Australia’s wheat or wool exports. Over the last decade, Sydney’s market share of international visitors declined from 55.8 per cent to 49.5 per cent. In the year to June 2010, Sydney hosted 6.8 million domestic visitors staying for 19.3 million nights. There are almost 86,000 people directly employed in the tourism industry in Sydney. HARBOURVIEW The iconic harbour, with its bridge and opera house, is the classic first A VISION FOR glimpse of Sydney. But beyond the SYDNEY HARBOUR postcard image, what is there to do on and around the harbour? Sydney is Australia’s premier tourism destination and international gateway. Whether travelling for business, education, a conference, a sporting event or simply indulging Sydney has been losing its competitive edge due to a lack of in a holiday, most international tourists visit Australia through investment in attractions and critical infrastructure such as Sydney. convention and exhibition space and hotels. It is essential we Sydney needs new signature experiences to entice visitors. take action to reinvigorate our city, but we must remain true We need new attractions of the same calibre as BridgeClimb to ourselves and develop what is unique about Sydney: its to give visitors a reason to come back or stay longer. We need harbour, its people, its food and its heritage. modern facilities to make Sydney attractive as a global city. Leaders across the tourism industry in Sydney have come Cities ranging from Melbourne to Singapore have invested together to develop HarbourView, a vision for revitalising in becoming leading destinations for events, shopping, the Sydney as Australia’s foremost tourism destination. Our vision arts, casinos or conferences. However, only Sydney can explores the new attractions, events, facilities and precinct combine these city experiences with its spectacular natural upgrades needed to energise and promote Sydney as a ‘must environment and climate. do’ and ‘must return’ global destination. 6 REVITALISING The purpose of this vision is to: Create accessible places and experiences which are SYDNEY HARBOUR beloved by Sydneysiders and visitors. Offer new experiences which give previous visitors a It is the natural beauty of our harbour and the vibrant city reason to return to Sydney. around it that define Sydney. The inherent values of Brand Sydney are vibrancy, free-thinking, vitality, beauty, real and Provide visitors with an expanded itinerary of experiences leadership. Our vision is to develop the Sydney Harbour to extend their stay in Sydney. experience in ways that celebrate and nurture our unique Upgrade our existing entertainment and casino offering to Brand Sydney. ensure it is internationally competitive. Provide the missing infrastructure for Sydney’s business needs and cultural life. HarbourView is a journey along Create buildings and public space whose architecture supports Sydney’s values. the harbour foreshore to unite Deliver events and festivals that promote Sydney’s value to current endeavours and future the world and attract visitors to the city. Shamelessly brand, market and promote Sydney as a opportunities in a single vision for unique global city. Sydney Harbour. Proudly protect and nurture the natural, indigenous and cultural heritage that makes us unique. 7 HARBOUR JOURNEYS Sydney’s cultural, heritage and entertainment places are not concentrated in the city centre but dispersed along the harbour foreshore. The Harbour makes places such as Luna Park and The Wharf Theatre unique experiences, however the foreshore is difficult for visitors to access and navigate. Sydney’s transport network is based on commuter routes into and out of the central business district. Sydney needs new pathways that allow visitors to escape the CBD and explore our harbour city. These pathways are not mere routes to tourist sites but will allow a visitor to experience Sydney as a journey. 8 9 Commencing from the Royal Botanic The Great Harbour Walk includes historic THE Gardens and World Heritage-listed pubs, great dining and unique overnight GREAT Sydney Opera House then crossing stays such as Q Station, harbour island the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the walk camping, heritage cottages and luxury HARBOUR continues on the northern shore of hotels with harbour views. The walk is the harbour through Sydney Harbour connected to the Great Northern Walk, WALK National Park. The walk takes in Western Harbour Walk and the Bondi to Taronga Zoo, Balmoral, the Spit and Coogee Coastal Walk for more extensive Rivalling the Lycian Way, Amalfi Coast Manly. journeys. and Cinque Terra, the Great Harbour Walk is a three to five day ramble through The Great Harbour Walk is connected The route of the Great Harbour natural bushland, heritage sites, city by the Harbour Hopper ferry service Walk crosses local, state and federal streetscapes and the unique experiences from North Head to Watsons Bay, government land. Cooperation is of Sydney Harbour. Where else in the allowing the walk to continue along needed to clearly define and mark the world can a stroll from the city become a the southern foreshore to complete ‘official’ route which can be consistently bushwalk in a national park? the circuit. marketed to the world. Sydneysiders and visitors enjoying a WHAT’S NEEDED? section of the Great Harbour Walk. Upgrade and connect the dozens of walking trails across local council, state and federal land. Provide clear, consistent and themed signage throughout the walk. Deliver a high quality interpretation along the walk through an audio-visual GPS iTour. Image courtesy of Pierre Toussaint; Tourism NSW A section of the Great Harbour Walk along Farm Cove and the Royal Botanic Gardens. 10 HARBOUR Harbour Hopper Ferry Route HOPPER Manly The backbone of our vision is the Harbour Hopper ferry service which would unite the people, places and Q Station experiences of Sydney Harbour. (North Head) Chowder The Harbour Hopper will provide a Bay regular ‘hop-on hop-off’ visitor service Taronga along the foreshore rather than the Luna Zoo Goat Park current cross-harbour Sydney Ferries Island commuter services. The Harbour Fort Watsons Bay Hopper ferry service will connect the Denison (South Head) Nielsen islands of Sydney Harbour National Park White Park Bay with the best attractions on the harbour Opera House Shark Island foreshore. Sydney Campbells Clark Aquarium Cove Island More than just a transport route, the Walsh Bay Harbour Hopper would be a guided Barangaroo experience with rich interpretation of our natural and cultural heritage by indigenous guides or national park rangers. The Harbour Hopper will connect with the existing private ‘hop-on hop-off’ and public Sydney Explorer bus services and be an integral component of the Great Harbour Walk. WHAT’S NEEDED? A cooperative of public and private harbour attractions Image courtesy of Hamilton Lund; Tourism NSW to determine the preferred route, service and financial Visitors at Sydney’s models. historic Fort Denison. Government permission for the route, upgrade of jetties and financial support for the service to provide access to selected