Tag: Destination NSW

Australia – Destination NSW has teamed up with CommBank in a major new initiative to drive the growth of the state’s visitor economy using real-time consumer spending insights.

The collaboration, announced today, will provide Destination NSW and its regional Destination Network partners access to Destination iQ, a platform powered by de-identified transaction data from millions of purchases across the state. This tool will help track and analyse aggregated visitor spending patterns by location and time, offering unprecedented visibility into traveller behaviour.

The partnership will utilise CommBank iQ, a joint venture between Commonwealth Bank and analytics firm Quantium, which brings its proprietary data set and data science expertise to the table. The insights will complement existing research from Tourism Research Australia by delivering more granular, localised, and timely data to help shape tourism strategies across NSW.

The initiative is expected to support key decision-making in marketing, infrastructure planning, and investment attraction, while also allowing tourism operators to spot emerging trends and fine-tune their offerings accordingly.

“This partnership with CommBank iQ gives us a new level of insight into visitor behaviour, helping Destination NSW and our partners across Greater Sydney and regional NSW make faster, smarter decisions,” said Destination NSW CEO Karen Jones. “It’s a practical step forward in supporting businesses, attracting investment, and driving toward our ambitious 2035 target.”

Regular data-driven reports will also be published on Destination NSW’s corporate website as part of the initiative, giving industry stakeholders access to timely information on visitor demographics, origin, and spending habits.

The move aligns with a key recommendation from the recent review of the NSW Visitor Economy Strategy, which highlighted the importance of faster and more detailed data in keeping the state competitive on the global tourism stage.

CommBank iQ CEO Makenna Ralston said the partnership would help empower tourism decision-makers. “CommBank iQ’s unparalleled insights into visitor behaviour, combined with our deep analytical and data science expertise, will help attract more visitors to the state and drive economic outcomes for both Greater Sydney and regional NSW,” she said.

John O’Neil, chair of Destination North Coast, welcomed the partnership, calling it a valuable tool for tourism businesses across the state. “In a rapidly evolving market, timely and accurate data is critical. This collaboration will equip stakeholders with powerful insights to keep their experiences consumer-focused and globally competitive,” he said.

NSW is divided into seven Destination Networks, which work closely with local councils and tourism operators to grow regional economies. With access to richer data, these networks are expected to gain a sharper edge in promoting their destinations and enhancing visitor experiences.

Australia – Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales, NSW Government, has launched a new tourism campaign, Feel New, which is a series of emotionally charged films aimed at exploring individual feelings experienced by travellers to New South Wales.

The series of films, which was developed by tourism and major events agency Destination NSW with creative agency Leo Burnett, spotlights on seven feelings most sought after by consumers – ‘joy’, ‘connection’, ‘freedom’, ‘awe’, ‘rejuvenation’, ‘belonging’, and ‘adventure’ – reaffirming NSW’s position as the feel-good state. It also aligns with the overarching ‘Feel New’ brand. 

Moreover, extensions of scenes from the Feel New TV spot have been reimagined in the seven Feeling Films, with each aligning to a single hero feeling. NSW landscapes and cultural encounters feature in the campaign extension, with each film featuring a bespoke remix of the official Feel New soundtrack, ‘Feeling Good’, which was re-imagined by Azure Ryder to make the audience feel the emotional experience that the film represents.

Stuart Ayres, the minister for enterprise, investment and trade, minister for tourism and sport, and minister for Western Sydney, believes that the time was right to take a more emotive-led approach to market the NSW visitor economy.

“The Feel New film series captures all the things I love about our State. It invites everyone to get out and appreciate the beauty and wonder of NSW and promises a return to the excitement and adventure that we all need to feel again,” said Ayres.

Meanwhile, James Walker-Smith, Leo Burnett’s general manager, noted that the Feel New strategy sets NSW apart from other competitor states and gives NSW a distinct advantage when targeting travel intenders.

“Destination NSW has really shifted its approach when it comes to how they promote the state, moving from being a destination brand, which is where many travel brands continue to operate, into the culture brand space. By creating a brand which is feelings-led, they’ve created a brand for the future that at the same time, is the ultimate antidote for the world right now,” said Walker-Smith.

Steve Cox, Destination NSW’s CEO, shared that the Feel New film series continued the fresh new approach to the tourism and major event agency’s strategy for promoting NSW.

“The strategic thinking behind Feel New was to tap into this consumer desire to feel; to build an enduring creative platform to market and promote NSW through its many and varied cultural and natural experiences, which are powerfully captured in these films,” said Cox.