Vivid Sydney, the annual outdoor lighting festival which last year attracted 2.3 million people to the city, will result in significant increases in turnover for cafés and restaurants, said Restaurant & Catering Australia (R&CA).
R&CA CEO John Hart said expectations among café and restaurant owners are high, with some businesses predicting an increase in turnover of up to 60 percent during Vivid Sydney, which will run from 26 May to 17 June.
“The spectacle of Vivid Sydney and the millions of tourists it attracts is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our fantastic dining scene to the rest of the world,” Hart said.
“Dining out at a café or restaurant is the most popular activity for more than 66 percent of Sydney’s visitors so the impact that these businesses have on the city’s night-time economy is enormous.”
Statistics from previous years have shown that over 70 percent of visitors to Vivid Sydney purchased a meal during their visit, and in 2016 it generated more than $110 million for the state’s economy.
Hart said that the ongoing success of Vivid Sydney demonstrates the need for the NSW government to continue its investment in tourism marketing.
“Vivid Sydney is the perfect example of how investment in tourism marketing funding can help achieve stellar results.
“NSW recorded 13 percent growth in the number of international visitors in 2016 and to improve on these results, it’s crucial that major events like Vivid Sydney are being shown off to prospective visitors.”
