The calendar forecasts $760.1 million in delegate spending in Australia due to events being hosted locally between now and 2031.
The vast majority of the spend – $697,043,164 – will be spent by Australians, with the remaining $63,058,072 to come from international delegates attending events in Australia.
The secured events represent 2,792 business event days and 1,597,579 total delegates days.
Thirty per cent of the international events won have a trade or exhibition element and professional, scientific, technical, health and social assistance meetings make up nearly half of all international business secured.
The forward calendar also outlines the reasons for bid wins with top reasons including the bid team, geographic preference and subvention.
Information on lost bids, which number 399, is also in the calendar alongside why they were lost. The unsuccessful bids had a collective delegate spend of $334,168,923.
According to the bureaux contributing to the report, 29 per cent cited losses due to geographic preference, 13 per cent cited the total cost of the event and 13 per cent said it related to subvention funding.
While acknowledging the considerable event wins across the country, ABEA CEO Melissa Brown highlighted the lost bids as a major opportunity.
“The business events sector offers an enormous opportunity for economic contribution, greater than we are already providing,” she said.
“Australia leads with demand from areas such as scientific meetings and health care, events that showcase expertise and provide opportunities for further research, education and collaboration that deliver meaningful benefits for Australians.
“This report is critical in evidencing the size, breadth and scale of opportunities while outlining strategies for the sector to work hand-in-hand to ensure we win every bid possible,” she said.
She also flagged the role of Australia’s national subvention fund, managed by Tourism Australia.
“Australia is a great place to host events, however we sit within a hugely competitive global landscape. This underscores the importance of Tourism’s Australia’s national bid fund for the future growth of our important industry.”
micenet has also heard from other industry stakeholders on the importance of subvention in securing business in today’s global events landscape.
ABEA has taken over collating the forward calendar from the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB), which was one of the founding organisations of the new association. The AACB wrapped up operations to make way for ABEA.
