New Minister Headlines Business Events Conference
Collaboration in the business events industry will be the focus of the 27th Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) Conference, which commences in Brisbane this evening.
The conference features national and international speakers, headlined by Australia’s new Assistant Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Keith Pitt MP.
“Business events is one of the largest and most significant segments of the tourism industry, yet the level of awareness about business events among people outside of our industry remains low,” said the AACB’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Hiebl.
“While the AACB is making progress in this area, greater collaboration between key players within the business events sector is required. Working together with government is also important and therefore, we welcome Assistant Minister Pitt’s attendance. It will be one of the first occasions when the new Minister will address a major tourism industry forum.”
Collaborating with Tourism Australia must continue to be a priority as Australia competes with other major international destinations to lure more business events. Tourism Australia’s Executive General Manager, Events, Penny Lion said the organisation’s strong partnerships with industry are vital to growing the economic contribution of business events to Australia.
“Business events are an important and growing sector of our visitor economy and Tourism Australia continues to work closely with Australian industry partners to attract future business to Australia through our international trade and marketing programs,” Ms Lion said.
One in five dollars spent by international visitors in Australia is spent by an international visitor attending a business event, while expenditure by overseas delegates attending business events in Australia generates more than $2.2 billion in gross domestic product and 22,500 jobs annually.
>ENDS>
This story was published in: