NSW has received a record number of international visitors who stayed the greatest number of nights and spent more during their stay than ever before.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres said the latest International Visitor Survey (IVS) results confirm NSW is still Australia’s number one destination, with international visitation worth more than $7 billion to the State’s economy in the year ending December 2014 – an increase of 5.4 per cent on the previous year.

“The number of international visitors to NSW increased by 6.7 per cent to 3.2 million, with international visitors spending nearly 76 million nights in NSW,” Mr Ayres said.

“Sydney continues to lead all Australian capital cities, welcoming more than 3 million international visitors for the first time, while Regional NSW was also a big winner with more than 635,000 international visitors, an increase of 6.9 per cent.”

Four key markets recorded significant visitation growth including China (up 17.8 per cent), Germany (up 16.6 per cent), Malaysia (up 16.3 per cent), and the USA (up 10.9 per cent).

International youth visitation to NSW also increased by 7.9 per cent in the year ending December 2014 to reach record levels, with more than 1 million youth visitors to the State for the fourth consecutive time. In comparison, the growth in youth visitors to Queensland and Victoria performed well below the national average growth of 7.2 per cent and their nights declined.

Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer Sandra Chipchase said the results confirm the success of the NSW Government’s initiatives to attract international visitors.

“These results demonstrate the success of our marketing and partnerships initiatives and the strength of the NSW events calendar, which in the December 2014 quarter included the NRL Telstra Grand Final, Sydney International Art Series, Emirates Australian Open Golf and International Children’s Games,” Ms Chipchase said.