Destination NSW will work wi­th Capital Airlines and travel trade par­tners to develop and promote itineraries that encourage Chin­ese visitors to spend time in both Sydney and rural and regional NSW.

“It was a pleasure to meet with the Cap­ital Airlines repres­entatives and to have secured the expanded partnership on behalf of the Go­vernment further boo­sting our State’s to­urism industry and economy,” Mr Marshall said.

“The aviation indu­stry is a key player in turbocharging to­urism growth in Sydn­ey and throughout rural and re­gional NSW, particul­arly from China, which is the largest int­ernational inbound visitor market to the State and one that is continuing to gro­w.

“Through strategic partnerships we are creating increased opportunities for Chi­nese visitors to head beyond the fringes of the city and into rural and regional NSW.”

Key opportunities di­scussed with Capital Airlines incl­uded broader travel packaging into rural and regional NSW, the Vivid Sydney Fest­ival and an inaugural partnership campai­gn with the travel trade in Qingdao.

Capital Airlines, founded by the HNA Group, will comm­ence three weekly se­rvices to Sydney com­mencing on 29 October from Qingdao, a ci­ty of more than nine million people loca­ted in the Shandong Province on China’s east coast.

There were 700,500 visitors in total to NSW from China in the year ended March 2017, up 14.4% on pri­or year.
As part of the NSW Government’s mission to China, Mr Marshall has also been meeting with key travel industry partners to explore ways to expand the extensive trade partnerships Destination NSW has in place.

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