When you go to the Gold Coast for a holiday, you don’t care that two of the main theme parks are 47km from the airport or which council areas they’re in, do you?
You probably don’t even think about it.
The Blue Mountains and Western Sydney has traditionally been a day trip destination from the current CBD and Kingsford Smith Airport or a weekend getaway for Sydneysiders.
But come 2026, the new Western Sydney International Airport will bring us a new type of visitor, one that we still need to get our head around.
Judging by the Gold Coast example, passengers from around the world will filter far and wide throughout our region without questioning.
They will stay and play, eat and play, see and play, do business and play, visit friends and family and play wherever they can get to quickly and easily.
We need to work together as an industry to erase those traditional council boundaries from our guest experience as soon as they alight the plane.
Our guests should be encouraged to crisscross between Blue Mountains, Penrith and Hawkesbury and guided through their visit no matter what they want to do and where.
We also need to stop worrying about where they will stay as long as they book a bed in Penrith, the Hawkesbury or Blue Mountains.
How long they stay will depend on how ready we are and how many accessible attractions we have.
The first passenger planes touch down in 2 years time.
Is Western Sydney ready for this new visitor?
Not yet.
We need more things for more people to do more often before then.
So big thinkers, what are you waiting for?
Get those big projects out of your heads and into reality.
And if you’re an existing attraction that currently does not service the inbound market, get export ready and join forces with the rest of the industry to maximise this global opportunity.
Western Sydney needs you.
#westernsydney #airportready #wsi #visitbluemountains #penrithishere #visithawkesbury Simon Hickey Catherine Payne @Pru Car MP Destination NSW Richard Fox Penrith Chamber Business Western Sydney Susan Templeman
📸 courtesy Western Sydney International Airport
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