A campaign to drive Sydneysiders out of the city during the APEC long weekend has delivered up to $15 million to New South Wales' regional and rural economies.
Premier Morris Iemma says up to a third of Sydney residents left the city during the one-off September long-weekend.
More than $3 million was spent in the Hunter Valley where numbers were comparable with those usually seen at Easter, the region's busiest time of year.
More than a million dollars was spent on accommodation on the Central Coast while Orange in the state's central west received 70 per cent more visitors than this time last year.