A bright future dawning for events Down Under
Tourism Australia executive general manager of commercial and business events Australia , Robin Mack , reflects on the year that has been and looks towards the future :
hen I wrote my introduction for the CMW Australia supplement last year , we had welcomed back travellers from Singapore , Japan and South Korea and we were looking forward to Australia opening to the rest of the world in 2022 .
Skip to the present and Australia is open for business , travellers no longer need to provide evidence of vaccination status or take a predeparture test , and international events have been successfully held across Australia .
It ’ s incredible how much can change in 12 months . And whilst it ’ s important to look forward , I see the value in reflecting on the past to remind ourselves where we ’ ve come from , what the industry has achieved globally and the resilience of the sector . The learnings we have accumulated these past couple of years have provided the industry with the foundations to move towards a much brighter future .
And this is reflected in our latest international research , the 2022 Business Events Consumer Demand Project . The research indicates that overall , the outlook for the international business events landscape is strong , with decision makers expecting the number and size of events to increase , while budgets are expected to grow . And decision makers are feeling increasingly confident with travelling and running events abroad .
We are seeing this first-hand in Australia with international events , including the 95th Million Dollar Round Table ( MDRT ) Global Conference , the largest international business event in Australia since borders reopened . The four-day conference held in August 2022 attracted 4,400 international delegates to Sydney from over 500 companies and 33 countries and territories , a testament to the appeal Australia has as a destination .
And 2023 is looking just as bright , with a range of international business events coming to our shores including the Sydney WorldPride Human Rights Conference in March ; the Rotary International Conference , which is expected to attract 20,000 delegates to Melbourne in May and the International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science ( IAS
2023 ), which will be held in Brisbane in July .
Delegates attending these events will have a wealth of new product to choose from , with Australia continuing its unprecedented levels of infrastructure development . In 2023 Australia will welcome a range of new hotels including The Ritz- Carlton Melbourne , W Sydney and The Star Grand hotel in Brisbane , as well as a range of venues , including the expansion of the Cairns Convention Centre .
For the latest information on Australia ’ s continuing influx of new hotels , venues and business events experiences , or for a personal introduction to our industry , simply contact our head of distribution development and partnerships , Kelly Maynard , at kmaynard @ tourism . australia . com
I hope you are inspired by the stories from Australia ’ s business events industry in this dedicated supplement and start planning your next business event in Australia today .
We look forward to saying G ’ day to you soon …