Central Coast tourism industry celebrates a year of success
Destination Central Coast hosted its end-of-year industry event on 20 November at Gosford’s newest hotel, voco Gosford, bringing together over 150 tourism professionals for the final networking event of 2025.
This year has been a standout for tourism on the Central Coast, marked by strong local partnerships, innovative industry programmes and a string of award wins for both Council and local operators.
Central Coast Council Mayor, Lawrie McKinna said collaboration and strong partnerships are key to growing the visitor economy.
“In 2024-25, tourism generated over $5.2 million for our region. That’s significant for the health of our economy and that kind of result will encourage the industry to continually improve their services to attract even more people,” Mayor Mckinna said.
“Tourism is an enormous boost for our community. We benefit from the unique experiences created for visitors, and ‘local tourism’ is thriving on the Central Coast.
“By working together, we’re creating a destination that not only attracts visitors, but also delivers sustainable growth and opportunities for our growing community.”
At the event, Council shared key milestones from 2025:
• Advancing to ecotourism level in ECO destination certification, joining only ten other areas in Australia.
• Second place at ITB Berlin in the Green Destinations Top 100 Story Awards 2025
• Finalist for the fifth consecutive year in the Green Destinations Top 100 Story Awards 2026.
• Finalist in the Banksia Foundation Awards (NSW Marketing & Communications for Impact).
• Triple finalist in the 2025 NSW Tourism Awards, taking out Silver in the Local Government Award for Tourism and Visitor Information Services categories, plus finalist in Tourism Marketing and Campaigns.
The local industry was also recognised for outstanding achievements:
• Paul Barnett, CEO of Mingara Leisure Group – Outstanding Business Leader (21+ Employees).
• Iris Lodge Alpacas – Excellence in Sustainable Tourism.
• Glenworth Valley Wilderness Adventures – Named one of the World’s 10 Best Adventure Holidays in the annual Traveller Awards.
• Crowne Plaza Terrigal Pacific – Finalist in the Business Event Venue and 4-4.5 star accommodation categories.
Visitor economy on the rise
The Central Coast now ranks 3rd out of 11 LGAs in visitor spend within the Sydney Surrounds North Destination Network, with credit card expenditure up 2.7% year-on-year (source: Australian Bank Transaction Data. Annual Spend last 12 months to September 2025).
International visitation is also thriving, with a 31% increase in expenditure at $52 million year-on-year (source: Destination NSW, Central Coast Visitor Profile YE June 2025).
With vibrant new lifestyle and hospitality destinations opening just in time for Summer, the Central Coast is set to shine as a premier holiday hotspot.
Discover experiences, attractions and events that showcase the best of our region at LoveCentralCoast.com