Over 100 people working in tourism and business events attended the Federal Parliamentary Friends of Tourism networking event at Parliament House, which was also attended by Farrell as well as the federal assistant tourism minister, Nita Green, and former nationals leader and current House of Representatives member, David Littleproud. Tourism Australia’s managing director, Robin Mack, was also at the gathering.
The government engagement event comes as ABEA works on the strategic direction for the business events industry.
“We want to continue working with government and other industry bodies to build a national business events strategy that recognises the role our sector plays not only in tourism, but in productivity, innovation, investment, trade and skills,” said ABEA CEO, Melissa Brown.
ABEA is pushing for a review of Australia’s national visitor economy strategy, THRIVE 2030, to be supported by the government and for THRIVE 2030 to include a specific strategy for the business events sector.
“We are pleased to see the support from the trade and tourism portfolio for progressing this work,” said Brown.
In August, the association brought together 20 stakeholders from across the business events sector, as well as from Tourism Australia, Austrade, and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), to work on a national vision for the business events sector. The vision includes a “national ambition” for the business events industry out to 2040.
The August summit was also focussed on the creation of advocacy priorities for business events for the next year or two.
On top of all this, ABEA is seeking to drive a whole-of-government approach to business events, recognising the impact the sector has across every industry.
“Business events advance productivity, innovation, trade, investment, skills and knowledge across sectors including health, defence, clean energy, critical minerals and advanced manufacturing,” said ABEA’s chair, Peter King.
“Business events create legacies that extend well beyond the event itself. They bring global expertise and investment into Australia, build knowledge and connections across industries, and we do that every week of the year. We are a catalytic industry.”
