Discussions in Sydney and Melbourne were convened by the Australian Business Events Association (ABEA) and the Australia and New Zealand chapter of the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence, following the two industry bodies signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together late last year.
The roundtables brought together a variety of stakeholders in the Australian incentive travel sector, including inbound and outbound incentive operators and suppliers.
The need for better positioning of incentive travel that emphasises the business outcomes these programs deliver, better pathways into the sector and more awareness of careers in incentive travel and deeper collaboration in the sector were major takeaways from the discussions. The need for ongoing incentive travel data to support advocacy was also flagged.
Following on from the roundtable discussions ABEA and SITE are now looking to produce Australian incentive sector research, participate in career roadshows around Australia to address the talent issue and encourage more collaboration between industry stakeholders.
The two bodies are also calling on government, destinations, education providers and the broader business events industry to support the growth of the sector by focussing on the value it delivers.
“Australia combines sophisticated conference and event infrastructure with culturally rich experiences and some of the world’s most unique landscapes, giving organisers enormous flexibility to create memorable incentive and business events programs,” said ABEA CEO, Melissa Brown.
“We’ve got incredible knowledge, talent and expertise across the business events and incentive sectors, and if organisers, suppliers, venues, bureaux and industry bodies continue to work collaboratively, there’s a real opportunity to strengthen the industry’s long-term capability, profile and economic impact.”
