Sydney harbor

Three-day youth travel trade event headed to Sydney in 2018

Destination NSW and WYSE Travel Confederation are partnering to bring a three-day youth travel trade event to Sydney. WYSE Exchange Australia will be held May 8-10, 2018. The event programme will include pre-scheduled workshop appointments between 30 leading international buyers and 60 Australian suppliers of backpacker, youth, adventure and education products and experiences, a full day educational conference, buyer familiarisations and social networking events. The WYSE Exchange Australia event will also sit alongside BOA New South Wales annual BOA Ball.

“We are delighted to once again be partnering with Destination NSW to deliver WYSE Exchange Australia. Destination NSW has been a long-time supporter of WYSE Travel Confederation and recognises the value of the inbound youth travel market to New South Wales and Australia,” said WYSE Travel Confederation Director General David Chapman.

Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said New South Wales received nearly 1.3 million international youth visitors in the year ending June 2017, an increase of 6.0% on the previous year.

“With our stunning Harbour City attractions, beautiful beaches and world-class calendar of events, it’s little wonder Sydney continues to be the most visited destination in Australia by youth travellers from across the globe,” he said.

Last week, the global youth, student and educational travel industry came together for the 2017 World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC). Supported by Tourism Australia, a 39-strong delegation of operators showcased the best of Australia to the global youth travel industry at WYSTC 2017 in Montreal, Canada.

Inbound youth travel to Australia continues to be a vital market segment for Australia’s tourism industry. According to Tourism Australia, for the year ending June 2017 youth arrivals increased by 8.6% to 2.1 million, while youth visitor spend reached $18.7 billion, up 12.2%for the same period.

The youth leisure segment spends more than any other leisure travel segment in Australia, mainly due to longer than average length of stay and propensity to combine work, visiting friends and family, and holiday experiences.

Registration for WYSE Exchange Australia will open in mid-October.