December 2024 Newsletter

Written by getmilk on December 23, 2024. Posted in Newsletter.

TNSW AGM & Xmas Party – report & pics

Congratulations to the new YTNSW Committee elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 5 December 2024 – pictured, left to right: Josh Mayer, Justin Steele, Stuart Ryan, Karen Larsen, Andy Cowan (President), Deon Carstairs, Peter ‘Sconzey’ Killick, Silke Kerwick (Secretariat), James Oliver (Treasurer & Secretary), Anna Menting, Felix Bray, Eleanora Kisser (not pictured – Adam Ogle.)

Thanks go to those members who attended and to the representatives from the Backpacker & Youth Tourism Advisory Panel (BYTAP) and Destination NSW who provided illuminating industry insights afterwards.

You can read about YTNSW’s priorities and achievements, in the 2023-24 Annual Report here.

After the AGM, nearly 100 industry legends celebrated the end of an awesome year at the YTNSW Xmas party at the Keg & Brew. Huge thanks go to our generous sponsors Booking.com & ResPax for shouting the bar – check out the party pics here.

Record number of Working Holiday Makers in AUS

For the first time ever in its 50-year history, the number of Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) in Australia has exceeded 200,000. This record was reached on 31 October 2024, with a whopping 205,560 WHMs onshore – definitely something to celebrate this festive season! The top 5 nationalities are the UK (44,053 WHMs), France (22,320), Ireland (21,944), Japan (14,680 and Taiwan (13,384). You can see the latest data and trends here.

Member spotlight

Congratulations to all our YTNSW members who were finalists at the 2024 NSW Tourism Awards including Local Sauce Tours (awarded silver for Cultural Tourism – pictured, Justin Steele, Founder & CEO, with Silke Kerwick and team members from Local Sauce Tours), Let’s Go Surfing (silver, Adventure Tourism) and ULTIMATE Adventure Travel (finalists, Adventure tourism, and Tour & Transport Operators).

Welcome also to our latest members, ResPax – booking software for the experience economy – and Circles Life digital-only telecommunications brand.

To get further information on anything to do with YTNSW, don’t hesitate to get in touch – contact@youthtourismnsw.org.au

Thanks for your support and contribution to growing the youth tourism industry in New South Wales & the ACT. We would also like to give a special thanks to Allsopp Bunting Insurance for their ongoing support of YTNSW and the industry.