Destination NSW has teamed up with Westfield to encourage Sydneysiders to head out of the city and explore regional NSW.

NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and Minister for Tourism and Major Events George Souris announced that $1 million in regional accommodation vouchers are up for grabs for Sydneysiders. 

The accommodation promotion underpins the state government’s tourism campaign rolling out across NSW, Destination NSW’s ‘Make Some Our Time’ campaign, which kicks off officially on 18 July and will run for four weeks until 12 August in eight Westfield centres across NSW.

The will also use augmented reality technology will be setup at selected Westfield shopping centres (Bondi Junction, Parramatta, Miranda and Chatswood), which will enable shoppers to ‘interact’ with NSW native wildlife and inspire them to go and see the real thing.

“Time-poor Sydneysiders are the biggest takers of short breaks – this innovative promotion will help them take advantage of the millions of destinations NSW has for the perfect break. We all know we are meant to recharge our batteries every now and again, and we always remember how good we felt when we did. This campaign makes it easy for people to do this,” Souris said.

During the four-week campaign period, Destination NSW will give away $1 million in accommodation vouchers in eight Westfield centres in NSW (Bondi Junction, Parramatta, Miranda, Chatswood, Penrith, Eastgardens, Burwood and Sydney). For shoppers who spend $30 in any participating retailer in-centre, they will receive a scratch card that could see them win $200 off any regional accommodation booking over $400.

Westfield Group managing director, Australia, USA and NZ, Robert Jordan said with so many Sydneysiders visiting a Westfield each day, it was a perfect match to give something back to shoppers and encourage them to visit regional NSW.

“Everyone deserves a break and it’s wonderful that we can offer our shoppers the chance to visit one of the many beautiful regional areas in NSW,” he said

The campaign will run from 18 July to 12 August.