The number of domestic tourists in NSW has grown substantially in the past year.
The state experienced its strongest June quarter in eight years this year, with domestic visitor numbers rising by 11 per cent, Tourism Minister George Souris said on Wednesday.
For the year ending June 2011, both domestic tourism numbers and visitor nights in NSW increased by five per cent, the latest data from Tourism Research Australia's National Visitor Survey shows.
NSW received a total of 24.1 million domestic overnight visitors who stayed more than 81 million nights and spent $13.1 billion.
In the June quarter, the number of nights domestic tourists spent in NSW was up by 12 per cent - more than double the national average.
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"That's an outstanding result, particularly when domestic tourism has seen little growth for a number of years now," Mr Souris said in a statement.
"This bodes well for the NSW government's target of doubling overnight tourism expenditure by 2020."
NSW has increased its share of total domestic visitors to 35 per cent with Victoria and Queensland recording a 24 per cent share.
This had meant an additional $782 million for the state's economy, Mr Souris said.
Visitor numbers to Sydney increased by 21 per cent and visitor nights rose by 19 per cent.
Regional NSW saw a three per cent increase in both visitor numbers and nights.
