Economy Gets a Boost: Down Under Meetings on Rise

By Gary Tufel -- Tradeshow Week, 2/14/2005

A Business Events Council of Australia study found that business events such as meetings, conferences, exhibitions and incentive travel are making a huge contribution to the Australian economy, generating $17.3 billion AU ($13.3 billion U.S.) annually and creating 214,000 jobs.

Released in December by Tourism Australia Chairman Tim Fischer, the Natl. Business Events Study, called the most comprehensive study of the Australian business events sector, was conducted over a two-year period. Data came from venues, meeting and conference delegates, attendees, exhibitors, event organizers and the incentive travel sector.

BECA Chairman and Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre Chief Executive Leigh Harry said the report underlined the lucrative nature of exhibitions. According to the study, in 2003:

• 8.5 million visitors attended exhibitions throughout Australia
• 1.4 million square meters (15.2 million square feet) of floor space was sold for 300 large exhibitions
• $137.7 million AU ($106 million U.S.) was spent to stage the events.

The heart of the Australian event business appears to be Sydney, whose state, New South Wales, accounted for 40 percent of Australia's total delegates and more than 40 percent, or $7 billion AU ($5.3 billion U.S.), of Australia's annual business events revenue. New South Wales accounted for 27 percent of all business events, followed by Victoria (25 percent), Queensland (20 percent), Western Australia (12 percent), Australian Capital Territory and South Australia (each 6 percent) and Tasmania (3 percent).

"We're very pleased to see such a clear identification of the size of the business events sector in Australia," said Sydney Convention & Visitors Bureau Managing Director Jon Hutchison.

Hutchison also noted that the fact that New South Wales had 40 percent of all of Australia's business event delegates indicates that the average size of events taking place in Sydney was significant.

The study found that business events in Melbourne and its state, Victoria, attracted over 5.4 million delegates, contributing $3.4 billion AU ($2.6 billion U.S.) in direct expenditure to the economy, three times more than when last surveyed in 1999. The study showed Melbourne is a major player in the business events industry, according to Garry Kingshott, CEO of the Melbourne Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"The Victoria government's $367 million AU ($282.4 million U.S.) commitment to a new convention center has already allowed Melbourne to win a 4,000-delegate international convention against fierce competitors such as Santiago (Chile) and Istanbul (Turkey)," he said.

Victoria Tourism Minister John Pandazopoulos said the new 5,000-seat convention center, to open in 2008, could attract some of the world's largest conventions.

The competition in Australia for business events increases each year, particularly with the construction of bigger and better convention and exhibition centers, noted Hutchison.