Dear Minister,

We write to you on behalf of the Backpacker and Youth Tourism Advisory Panel (BYTAP) and Youth Tourism NSW (YTNSW) to congratulate you on your appointment as Minister for Jobs and Tourism.

As you are aware, the tourism sector was significantly impacted by international and state border closures. Despite youth tourism being traditionally resilient and Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) among the first international visitors to return once borders reopened, the numbers of youth and WHM arrivals still fall well below pre-pandemic levels.

With youth tourism contributing $3.2bn to the national visitor economy in 2019, the rapid resumption of inbound youth tourism is important to NSW, particularly from WHMs given their high economic value, with the average WHM spending $26,800 during their time in Australia[1].

Sydney remains the primary gateway for WHMs, and these young travellers on reciprocal cultural exchange programs disperse quickly and spend widely across regional NSW, filling labour shortages in the tourism & hospitality and agriculture sectors.

Our goal is to support the youth tourism sector, working together with government and industry representatives to develop effective marketing and communications campaigns, which will be critical to rebuild our segment.

We would like to request a meeting to introduce the youth tourism sector, and to discuss possible state-led initiatives that could support and develop our sector in NSW.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

WENDI AYLWARD                                  ANDREW COWAN

CHAIRPERSON, BYTAP                  PRESIDENT, Youth Tourism NSW