Sydney’s popularity as a global tourist destination is being mirrored online, with the city’s Facebook and Google+ pages both having reached one million followers, Minister for Tourism and Major Events George Souris said today.

The achievement makes Sydney the first Australian city to reach one million Facebook fans, and the first to reach the milestone for both Facebook and Google+ simultaneously.

“Sydney’s social media channels, which are managed and promoted by the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW, are central to engagement strategies with domestic and international visitors, our stakeholders and industry, and help position Sydney and NSW as Australia’s premier tourist and events destination,” Mr Souris said.

“The pages showcase tips for visitors on where to stay, what to see and things to do in Sydney. They also include information about the best deals on accommodation, attractions, tours and restaurants, as well as useful tips that can help visitors plan the perfect trip.

“More than 80 million international and domestic overnight and domestic day trip tourists visited NSW in the year ending September 2013, and this was worth more than $27 billion to the state’s economy. Over 37 per cent of these visitors came to Sydney,” he said.

Destination NSW CEO, Sandra Chipchase, said it was easy to see the enthusiasm for Sydney in the comments and posts on the pages.

“People love to share photos of their favourite Sydney locations and activities, and we are in awe every week at how stunning the images are,” Ms Chipchase said.

“We hope by experiencing a taste of Sydney online, people will plan an actual visit, and share their own experiences with the Facebook and Google+ communities.”

“Destination NSW’s websites Sydney.com and Visitnsw.com are now ranked first among Australia’s State Tourism Organisation websites and the Tourism Australia website, attracting 51 per cent of all website traffic in this sector as at December 2013.

“Sydney.com and Visitnsw.com were also ranked sixth on the list of top 20 websites in the travel and accommodation categories for Australia,” she said.

Destination NSW analytics show the two websites recorded more than 10.1 million visits and delivered over 2.6 million leads to the NSW tourism industry this financial year to date, from July 2013 to January 2014.

  A SOCIAL MEDIA STAR, SYDNEY