AACB celebrates on Global Exhibitions Day

The Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) is celebrating Global Exhibitions Day by highlighting the safe return of exhibitions and the role that Convention bureaux play in attracting exhibitions to key destinations across Australia.

The AACB’s latest market intelligence indicates that a total of 141 new international exhibitions have been attracted to Australia by its members and two in three domestic conventions won have had an exhibition component.

Global Exhibitions Day will be celebrated worldwide on 2 June 2021. United efforts spread around the world last year and showcased the importance of exhibitions being key to rebuilding economies. To make the biggest impact #GDE2021 will concentrate on the idea of connecting, reconnecting, starting and rebuilding communities and economies.

AACB CEO, Andrew Hiebl said, “The strategic bidding activities undertaken by convention bureaux play an important role in attracting exhibitions through the international and domestic business events they secure for Australia”.

“The safe return of exhibitions and their role in accelerating the recovery of the business events industry is widely recognised following the restrictions that impeded face-to-face collaboration and trade activity last year”.

With 200 international business events cancelled since the pandemic hit, the industry is heavily relying on the return of international business events to enable global trade and stimulate Australia’s economy by providing opportunities for commercialisation and innovation.

According to Ernst & Young’s report on the Value of Business Events to Australia, in 2018-19 there were 2,536 exhibitions staged in Australia, attracting 11.1 million visitors, which generated over 28,000 jobs and contributed $4 billion to the Australian economy.

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