Tourism Australia's Business Events Bid Fund Programme (BFP) has helped to double the value of business events secured by the country over the past three months to a new milestone of AUD$187m (US$133.7m). To
The BFP has also helped boost the number of applications received from the Australian business events industry, which have now reached 79 since the fund’s launch.
Total expenditure by international business events visitors in the year ending September 2018, the national agency said, was worth AUD$4.92bn, an increase of 16% on the previous year.
Tourism Australia Managing Director, John O’Sullivan said the new figures demonstrated the bid fund’s effectiveness in improving Australia’s competitiveness in the global business events market.
O’Sullivan added: “The BFP provides critical support for industry at the all-important bidding stage, when the BFP can provide a real competitive edge for Australia by helping offset event costs here”.
The majority of applications to the BFP continue to be for international health and direct selling business events. On average, every dollar invested by Tourism Australia and industry in securing events through the BFP has generated A$19 for the Australian economy, the agency claimed.
Fourteen events have been secured for Australia since the commencement of the BFP in July 2018, with six of the events publicly announced:
- 2019 SportAccord World Sport and Business Summit, Gold Coast | AUD$6.7m in economic value for Australia
- UITP 2021 Global Public Transport Summit, Melbourne | AUD$4.6m in economic value for Australia
- 145thIATA Slot Conference, Brisbane | over AUD$3.2m in economic value for Australia
- 13thCongress of International Plant Molecular Biology 2021, Cairns | AUD$4.2m in economic value for Australia
- Society for Freshwater Science Annual Meeting 2021, Brisbane | AUD$2m in economic value for Australia
- IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence SSCI 2020, Canberra | AUD$2.2m in economic value for Australia.
Meanwhile, hosted buyers attending the Asia Pacific Incentives & Meetings Event (AIME) experienced Melbourne’s newest event space The Timber Yard in Port Melbourne for the Hosted Buyer and Media Cocktail Party, presented by Showtime Event Group.
In keeping with the ‘Uncover Melbourne’ theme, guests were immersed deep in Port Melbourne’s industrial precinct at The Timber Yard.
Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) Chief Executive Officer, Karen Bolinger said, “We couldn’t be happier with the result of our cocktail party. The undisclosed location for the event and unassuming venue façade certainly added to the evening intrigue.”
In welcoming the 300 plus guests, Bolinger detailed the bureau’s commitment to working collaboratively with all partners and the business events industry on supporting initiatives that strengthen the city’s eco-credentials.
“Melbourne has been ranked the number one sustainable city in the Asia-Pacific region for business events in the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) for the second consecutive year.
“MCB actively contributes to, and promotes, the city’s sustainability credentials to the business events industry in Australia and globally, and we are proud to partner with The Timber Yard.”
Guests were also welcomed by City of Melbourne Lord Mayor, Sally Capp, who acknowledged the success of MCB in capturing the pulse of the city through their Uncover Melbourne programme.
“Melbourne is renowned as the events capital of Australia and MCB plays an important role in demonstrating this to the business events sector. Connecting our long-time partners with our newest provided a great opportunity to showcase their ability and Melbourne’s business events flair,” Bolinger added.
