Hello and welcome to this special edition of Talking Property with CBRE. The Lobby Series is a collection of intimate talks with industry experts that uncover how we can maximise the human experience in the spaces we frequent every day. Each episode takes place in the lobby of some of Sydney's most iconic buildings and brings together our very own in-house experts with market leaders who are shaping our future cities. We hope you enjoy these insightful conversations.
PR:
Hello, my name is Phil Rowland. I'm the CEO of CBRE in Australia and New Zealand, and I'm joined by someone who is very much at the forefront of brand Sydney. Steve Cox, the CEO of Destination New South Wales. Steve, welcome
SC:
Phil. Thank you. Great to be here.
PR:
It's great to be in this great space, isn't it?
SC:
Yes, absolutely. An iconic place. Many memories from here, from years gone past, and I look forward to many future memories too.
PR:
I bet. Steve, in your role, you are responsible for driving the strategic direction of Destination New South Wales and the delivery of the visitor economy strategy. Which is very much about making New South Wales the premiere destination. They're big targets. When you think about achieving those targets, what drives your passion?
SC:
Look, I mean, really the passion is the purpose of the organisation, and that's to deliver economic and social benefit to the people in New South Wales by growing the visitor economy. I mean, you know, I've had many careers in my time and I got to a point in my career where it was about 'I only want to work in an organisation where I'm absolutely passionate about its purpose' and the work that we do day in, day out through the work at Destination New South Wales. But really importantly, across all the stakeholders, both within government, local, state, federal, but also broader stakeholders such as yourselves and the industry more broadly, makes an absolute difference to the people in New South Wales. I mean, the visitor economy in 2019 was close to 6% of gross state product. It's one of the largest employers. It's about jobs, about happiness, putting a smile on people's faces. That's what keeps us going.
PR:
And when you think about Sydney and its attraction to everybody, and you think about the range of visitors, whether they're within Sydney, whether they're interstate, whether they're international visitors, how are you thinking about curating the sort of the different needs of those visitors? And are they the same? Are they different? How do you think about that?
SC:
Yes, look, when we've developed the visitor economy strategy, and that's kind of the guiding light for the work that we are doing. And that's got a few pillars in the strategy. And one of those was the brand. When we think about that, we did give it a lot of thought about the visitor - who we're trying to talk to. And those groups that you mentioned are all really important, and there are slight differences between them. And I do think for me here in Sydney, as a local resident, as somebody who's absolutely passionate about this city, we do have a role to play in building advocacy amongst the people that live here. And our research shows that in cities where there's really strong advocacy and belief, and people are really proud of their city and talk openly about how good their city is, visitor spend is about 35% higher per visitor just on that one thing alone.
So it's about connecting with, you know, Sydney residents and locals and helping us all rediscover just how amazing this place is that we live in. That incredible collision between nature and culture, the diversity of this city. I mean, there is no other city in the world like this city. We are the premier city, I would say, of the Asia Pacific, one of the very best in the entire world. Get that message across to our people, but then make sure that it resonates with visitors, both domestically intrastate, domestically interstate. And then really importantly, international. And each of those markets have some other nuances as well.
PR:
At more sort of micro level, Steve, Sydney's got some great precincts. We had a session down in Brookfield Place. We've got the whole Martin Place precinct. As you think about the, the evolution, the development of those precincts, how do you think about the sort of the interconnectivity of those precincts so they don't become sort of, I suppose, islands?
SC:
I sort of think of them as villages, right? I think of the vision that we've got is that over time it becomes a city of villages. And it becomes a bit like when you leave New York and you get on that plane and you go, I'm going back and next time I was in the Lower East Side, next time I'm going to go to Brooklyn, wherever it might be. So it's, you know, even a bit more than just the smaller precinct, but actually the village around that precinct that to me starts to give a bit of a destination to the city as far as that interconnectedness. You know, I think that's there's lots of different parts of that. That's communications, that's how we make it easy for visitors to explore and understand the differentials. And then of course, it's the other things like planning and roads and transportation and communications.
All those things are important as well. But I think from the role we play, it's about understanding, you know, the offer that is greater Sydney, you know, it's not just the Opera House, the bridge and the harbor. They're amazing. No one can take those away from us. But, you know, those dining experiences in the Inner West, the Cabramatta Vietnamese food, the experience of the Northern Beaches, Parramatta, the Western Parklands city, that's what Sydney's about. And we've just got to get better at connecting those stories, both through our language as a marketing organisation, Destination New South Wales, but also as a state around the services and the things that we provide.
PR:
So creating a world-class destination like Sydney requires a multitude of different dimensions and inputs. But of course, the built environment is an important part of that. So as you think about the property industry's role in helping you achieve your vision, what do you think we should be focusing on? Or how best can we deploy our resources?
SC:
To help the thing that will keep people coming back, spending more, repeating their visitation, is really the product and the physical built form, the things that are here as well as of course that the service and the people interaction that they receive. So I would say to the Property Council, look the obvious one, Western Sydney. I mean, you've got a brand new international 24-hour airport opening in December 26. If you look at our visitor economy strategy, you'll see there's an accelerate phase from 2026 to 2030. Large part of that is predicated off that airport. We've been at capacity or close to it at Sydney Airport for a long time. Flights have wanted to come to Sydney, but have had to go to other destinations. That is a massive opportunity for this city and the state more broadly. So I would be saying to the property industry, think about the western area of Sydney. There's enormous investment there with that airport that's coming along. And then how does that connect more broadly as well as into regional New South Wales? I wouldn't want to lose the regions because, you know, as more people come to Sydney, they're going to want to get out and we need more property and built form in those environments as well. That relate to those destinations.
PR:
And Western Sydney also, I just have to highlight, Steve, I suppose the health innovation aspects and the attraction that that's going to create. International researchers and really put Western Sydney on the map around health innovation.
SC:
Exactly, I met with all the Vice Chancellors of the universities in New South Wales. That's the kind of conversations that we're having. You've got to understand what that precinct represents. What's the destination? You know, one of our strategic items is lead with our strengths. You've got to understand what those strengths are and then just build them and be relentless at making sure you are the best. And that's why we set our vision to be the premier visitor economy of the Asia Pacific. Not to be the best in Australia, but I mean, we started with World, I did turn it back a bit. It's to be the best in the Asia Pacific, and that's what we all, the industry, government, ourselves, CBRE, we all need to work together and say, Sydney should be at the top of the pile. And I think we can be on so many fronts.
PR:
Absolutely agree. Okay, so I've got one last question for you, Steve. That is, what is your most favorite thing to do in Sydney? I had to ask you that.
SC:
Look, there's so many. I mean, there is no one. I mean, I'll pick a couple of really quick ones. White Rabbit Gallery, one of my absolute favorite art galleries in this city. I think it's under recognised by many people. Love it. Really amazing destination. A walk with Annie Margaret Campbell and Dreamtime Southern X, Aboriginal Walking Tour in the Rocks. You see the city from a whole different perspective as she walks around and talks about 60,000 plus years of culture in this city. That would be another one. And then, you know, great food, great dining near the beaches in the national parks, riding my bike. There's so much to do.
PR:
Pretty hard to beat, isn't it? Steve, I wanted to thank you very much for taking the time. You're doing an amazing job. I think your vision is absolutely achievable, and we're all right behind you.
SC:
Thanks Phil, and thanks to CBRE.
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