Region. Campaign to lure tourists to suburbs

Tourism Minister, Jodi McKay, announced the NSW government has partnered with Jetstar as part of a $500,000 campaign to get interstate tourists into suburbs such as Blacktown, Penrith and The Hills. While many tourists associate Sydney purely with the Harbour Bridge and the CBD, Ms McKay said it was time to draw them to overlooked spots such as Blacktown’s Featherdale Wildlife Park and Western Sydney cultural events. “The challenge is, once you have tourists here, to get them to realise that there’s more to Sydney than just the three days you spent at the Opera House and in The Rocks,” she said. “We want them to realise that there’s so much more, things like Parramatta’s historic spots, Penrith’s cultural events and natural beauty ... fascinating things we want them to see.”

Parramatta. Brown to chair economic forum

Christopher Brown, former MD, of Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) and founder of Infrastructure Australia, will chair Parramatta City Council’s economic development forum, “Parramatta: Australia’s Next CBD” on March 8, at the Parkroyal Parramatta. Confirmed speakers at the forum include CEO of Fairfax, Greg Hywood, Professor Peter Shergold from the University of Western Sydney, Deloitte Office managing partner, Peter Forrester, Elizabeth Ann Macgregor from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tony Shepherd, Transfield Services and GWS Giants and Les Wielinga from Transport NSW. The event will be streamed live via council’s website, www.parracity.nsw.gov.au and online discussions will take place through Twitter using #ParraNextCBD