CEO Update - VIVID Lights up our Precinct & Working Together to Connect Our Great Waterfront

Thursday, 6 July 2023 

It's been a truly dynamic few months for our Western Harbour Precinct, with the Vivid Sydney festival delivering its biggest attendance record in history with a crowd of more than 3 million and the longest ever Vivid light walk spanning Circular Quay, through to Barangaroo, King St Wharf, Cockle Bay to Darling Harbour and beyond.

A particular highlight for our area was the sold-out In Conversation event with The White Lotus creator and star Mike White and Jennifer Coolidge at the ICC Sydney and Vivid Music’s free Tumbalong Nights in Darling Harbour including performances by Yothu Yindi, a celebration of Triple J Unearthed, Dan Sultan and more.

Destination NSW data tells us that our restaurants, cafes and bars have experienced an upturn in patronage, and strong returns for businesses across the Western Harbour Precinct. The installation of Vivid Fire Kitchen at The Cutaway in Barangaroo attracted 190,000 people. Hotels have also reported increased occupancy rates up 12 per cent overall compared to this time last year. Congratulations to Destination NSW and Minister John Graham for what was an epic showcase!

Of course, we would like to keep the cultural and live experiences lights on all year around across our Precinct. This will require enlightened policy, investment and collaboration of business with our public sector partners.

We have found it of real value meeting with newly appointed NSW Government Ministers’ Haylen and Graham, on transport services and the ‘Improvement District’ model. Our campaign for a hop on electric fast ferry was featured in the Sydney Morning Herald following my keynote address to their 2050 Summit in Sydney, on how we can deliver the ‘World’s Best Waterfront’.

We have launched our Precinct Turnover & Forecast Report which demonstrates the opportunity to become a $6.2bn and 100m visitor Precinct by the end of this decade. But we can only realise this fully by working collaboratively and collectively through the ‘Improvement District’ model to deliver this return on investment.  

We are very pleased to have been announced as one of the first recipients of funding through the NSW Government’s Uptown Grant Program, which will help New Sydney Waterfront Company deliver our unique offering for residents, workers and visitors to our Precinct.

It was also great to host Committee CEOs from each of the major capitals (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide) for a walk around our Precinct and briefing on ‘Improvement Districts’. They all showed great interest in the opportunity this presents for their own cities, and we will continue to collaborate with them. 

A BIG Waterfront Welcome to our new members of the team - Robbie Hosking joins us as Business Manager, supporting our partnerships and can be reached at robbie.hosking@newsydneywaterfront.com.au. Jodie Bain will be our new Executive Manager supporting our team’s operations and administrations and can be reached via ea@newsydneywaterfront.com.au.  

There are a feast of dining, leisure, culture and sports to explore this Winter across the Western Harbour, including the FIFA Womens World Cup Live Site, the International Boat Show and more.  

We look forward to seeing you and yours around our Great Waterfront.  

Yours in Partnership,

Jace Tyrrell

CHIEF EXECUTIVE