In the wake of the recent bushfires, regional tourism and
events operators are making a strong statement to EAs
organising events: they are open for business
Regional Australia is
open for business
Over the last five months Australia has been through an
unprecedented and brutal bushfire season that has seen
many homes and lives lost. As I’m writing this story, some
fires are still burning and threatening the livelihoods of hard
working Australians.
But, as the fires spread, so did their coverage on social and
mainstream media. Images began circulating that drastically
misrepresented the scale of the fires. One particularly
famous image—which was shared by Rhianna—showed a
satellite shot of Australia with vast areas covered in red and
yellow infernos. The image turned out to be a visualisation of
places where fire was recorded, which was then exaggerated
by artist Anthony Hearsey, and is not a true image of the
actual events.
These images—while well intentioned—did damage to
Australia’s brand. Many tourism and events operators in
regional Australia lost up to 80 percent of their bookings
for the year as a result of the viral images, even though they
weren’t directly affected by the disaster.
46 Chief of Staff | Issue 1 2020
In a time where these regions need visitors more than
ever, they are suffering numerous cancellations. Now,
the Australian government, destinations, operators and
communities from across the country are sending a message
to EAs across the nation: they are open for business.
Event Here This Year
As part of the Morrison Government’s $76 million National
Bushfire Recovery Fund, Business Events Australia has
launched a campaign to urge local EAs to bring their events
to Australia’s fire-affected regions.
The campaign, Event Here This Year, is aimed at
encouraging organisations to provide a much-needed
boost to the local tourism industry by choosing Australia as
the destination for their business events. Federal Tourism
Minister Simon Birmingham said business events are crucial
to the tourism industry, which is the lifeblood of many
regional communities affected by the fires.
“This campaign is a call to all of those Australian