Today’s New South Wales Budget, delivered by the Treasurer Mike Baird MP, “delivers real commitment for tourism and major events and forms the cornerstone of the Government’s strategy to double overnight visitor expenditure by 2020”, the General Manager of the Tourism Industry Council NSW, Andrew Jefferies has said.

“This budget confirms that Destination NSW, the statutory authority with responsibility for promoting Sydney and regional New South Wales will be funded to the tune of $125 million per annum for the next four years and ensures that there will be no funding shortfalls throughout this term of parliament,” Mr Jefferies said.

The Tourism Industry Council NSW particularly welcomes a range of announcements and incentives to boost infrastructure and regional tourism including;

• A continuation of the $5.1 Million Regional Tourism Partnership program to support RTO’s for a further twelve months
• $135.3 Million for capital projects to upgrade the Sydney Opera House
• $127 Million to acquire 269 new buses for Sydney and the outer metropolitan regions
• $124 Million to deliver electronic ticketing for ferries, trains, buses and light rail with an opal card to be rolled out on ferries by the year’s end
• $85.5 Million for planned capital works for the State Library
• $33 Million to upgrade the Powerhouse Museum
• $32 Million for the purchase of 99 new OSCAR trains to service the Central Coast, Hunter, Blue Mountains and South Coast regions
• $29.3 Million to renovate the Art Gallery of NSW
• $17 Million to upgrade ferry wharves

“We strongly believe that the Government is committed to boosting the state’s infrastructure that supports our tourism and major events industry. Whilst we acknowledge the headline deficit figure for the 2012/13 financial year, it is clear that the state is headed in the right direction. The Treasurer has constructed a prudent and strategic budget that will deliver strong surpluses in years to come whilst delivering on election commitments to fund and upgrade the vital pieces of infrastructure that will grow the economy and tourism pie in the long run.”