Calls Mount for Sydney to Create an Arts Precinct to Attract More Tourism

There are renewed calls for Sydney’s arts and music segments to take on greater prominence when the city attempts to attract more international and domestic tourism.

The calls this time are coming from Business Sydney (formerly Sydney Business Chamber), which is advocating for a Sydney Arts Precinct.

The report, “Creating Australia’s Aerts and Cultural Capital“, maintains that as international tourists return, they want something more than just the beaches, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

“The Sydney Arts Precinct is a pivotal opportunity to establish Sydney as Australia’s cultural capital and a leader in Southeast Asia, implementing a visionary cultural destination strategy to realise significant long-term economic and social benefits to the city, state and country,” Paul Nicolaou, Business Sydney’s executive director said.

The zone would also revive and revitalise the ailing Sydney CBD in support of its economic recovery, make it a more liveable city for residents, and attract talent and investment.

After Business Sydney’s initial discussions with arts, music, business and government sectors, it was agreed that past government-lead collaborative initiatives “have tended to be tactical, short-term and not always aligned with the cultural sector’s core drivers”.

The association’s vision for the precinct is one where all these sectors would work together in a new business model.

Funded by the NSW Government, it would plan, promote and deliver programming, visitor experiences, market-ready product and servicing for promotion through tourism and entertainment channels.

The Sydney Arts Precinct would play a key role in the branding of Sydney – particularly to claim Sydney and not Melbourne as the country’s cultural capital – and in the revival of the night time economy.

To make the precinct work, a Sydney Cultural Strategy would have to be devised “to identify, value and develop cultural opportunities of economic significance”, and a Cultural Economy Commissioner appointed.

In 2017, international tourism was worth $41.3 billion to the country.

Earlier research found cultural tourism has risen 7.5% in the past four years, and 43% of tourists are participating in a cultural activity.

Attending festivals, fairs or cultural events amounted to 22.9% of why tourists came to NSW, while performing arts accounted for 18.3%.

For years, the Australian music industry has called for government-funded research on the value of specifically music tourism in this country.

It points to the U.K., where direct and indirect spending to visit music landmarks, festivals and concerts was worth more than £2.2 billion (AU$3.7 billion) 10 years ago.

A local study would, among other things, indicate where festivals and events would market themselves abroad, and justify the economic incentive to set up more music landmarks.

In June 2022, the Queensland Government announced it would actively make the state the centre of music tourism.

It started off with investing $20 million over three years in the Queensland Music Trails where major music acts would play 16 regional areas around the state from May 2023 to draw tourists.