Taking place every four years, this will be the first time the event is held in Australia. More than 2,000 delegates are expected to attend, with the event anticipated to generate an economic impact of over $10 million.
The congress will be held at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC), with the venue team working on securing the event since 2018.
The event will gather experts in digestive medicine and disorders in children, as well as those specialising in liver, gallbladder and pancreatic disorders in children and in paediatric nutrition.
The bid was led by Professor Nikhil Thapar, the director of the gastroenterology, hepatology and liver transplant service at Queensland Children’s Hospital. Thapar is also a leader within the Gastroenterological Society of Australia and the Asia Pan-Pacific Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, which will act as the host organisation when the global congress comes to Australia.
Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) and the Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA) supported the bid, while BCEC projected managed the process.
The bid also received financial assistance from the national business events subvention fund managed by Tourism Australia.
The bid positioned Australia as a leader in the field and flagged the need for greater education in Asia Pacific in this area of medicine. The pitch put forward potential legacies of hosting the event in Brisbane and the city’s track record for hosting large conferences.
“This world congress is designed to assist countries that really need it, specifically in terms of education, and there are many in the Asia Pacific that will benefit,” said Thapar.
“We believe that this is really an opportunity to drive up the quality of care that is currently available.
“There are still too many children dying in the world from gastrointestinal-related illnesses. We want this congress to be the catalyst for change in this part of the world by providing those who are not able to attend a congress in Europe, with the opportunity to attend the Brisbane congress.
“We intend it to have a strong education platform where practitioners will be able to take back to their own hospitals and countries new ideas and new practices to implement immediately.”
BCEC’s general manager Kym Guesdon, highlighted the role that the convention centre plays throughout the lifecycle of major congresses coming to the city.
“The centre’s team works closely with medical, research and scientific leaders to secure major sector meetings of this calibre, which are an endorsement of Queensland’s strengths in the key science and research sectors,” she said.
“This is a critical area of medicine and for us to be able to host the world’s best practitioners and to share with them our local expertise, provides us with a strong sense of duty to make this a memorable and rewarding congress for every attendee.”
