Sydney is missing out on $3.3 billion a year because it is often perceived on the world stage as little more than a picturesque holiday destination defined by its architectural landmarks and beaches.
The view that Sydney’s appeal did not extend beyond the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Bondi Beach was outdated and vastly undersold the depth and diversity of the NSW capital, risking a drain of investors, talent, and visitors, a new report from the Committee for Sydney think tank has found.
Committee chief executive Eamon Waterford said Sydney was “really well-regarded on the world stage” for its landmarks and natural landscapes.
“The problem is, it’s only a tiny bit of Sydney,” he said. “The Sydney we sell to the world is experienced by a very small number of Sydneysiders, and the city we all know and love is not at all part of the story we tell the world.”
The committee’s Beyond the Postcard report, published on Friday, said Sydney lacked a consistent, citywide strategy beyond the visitor economy and needed to tell a more complete and compelling narrative – or it would lose relevance, investment and global influence to better-positioned cities.
The report is the next step in the committee’s Sydney Global project, launched in 2025, which aimed to create a clear, shared narrative for Sydney to address concerns that the city was not well understood.
It said a strong brand was a form of soft power that could give cities a competitive edge globally.
Waterford said analysis by the think tank, which has been benchmarking Sydney against other international cities for the past decade, had consistently noticed a disconnect between Sydney’s daily life and the way the city was perceived internationally. The critical missing factor? Its people.
The ubiquitous images of Sydney’s built landmarks and coastline ignored the way in which most of the city’s 5.5 million residents enjoyed and celebrated the city, at events such as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade down Oxford Street and the Ramadan Nights festival in Lakemba.
“The people of Sydney are interesting, and really attractive to the world; they are exciting to global investors, to visitors who are looking for rich cultural experiences, to students who are wondering where they should go to university – Sydney’s got it all,” Waterford said.
“But we don’t sell that human story.”
The report said Sydney was typically viewed positively on an international level when it came to reputation, governance and liveability. Areas such as business dynamism, innovation intensity and cultural influence were “where Sydney’s underlying performance is strongest but under-recognised”.
Waterford said the research showed that this disconnect was costing the city $3.3 billion every year due to global investors, start-ups, major firms and conference organisers choosing other cities.
“It’s also made up of visitors who come once, see those amazing icons and never return, rather than coming back time and time again because they can never get to the bottom of how great this city is,” he said.
Waterford said the solution was “not a marketing campaign or a new logo”.
“It’s about everybody recognising there are great things that Sydney has going for it, and then including them in the stories they’re sharing with the world,” he said.
The next phase of the Sydney Global campaign involved building “a coalition of storytellers”, from everyday Sydneysiders to international sports and music stars, he said. They would then develop a “cheat sheet” or “brand bible” outlining the city’s key assets, with a view to telling a more comprehensive story about the city and boosting Sydney’s international presence.
“It will be about [identifying], these are the things that make Sydney great, now let’s all go and tell the world those things,” Waterford said.
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