REGIONAL EVENT PUSH FOR NSW

THE NSW Government is preparing to release a Regional Conferencing Strategy aimed at driving events beyond Sydney and into the state’s other cities and rural centres.

The plan follows the appointment of Stephen Mahoney as the new general manager regional at Destination NSW and will seek to boost the $145 million annual spend of delegates at regional events.

NSW Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said the regional conferencing market represented a significant opportunity for the state.

“Increasing conferencing and business events in rural and regional NSW is one of our top priorities,” Marshall said.

“We are developing a Regional Conferencing Strategy to drive and assist rural and regional operators in securing more conventions, meetings and other business events.

“The Regional Conferencing Strategy will involve working closely with industry and the six Destination Networks to build capacity in rural and regional areas and harness our unique tourism offerings to ensure every corner of our state reaps the benefits of national and international business events.

In the year ended Mar 2017, there were 247,200 international and domestic overnight and day trip conferencing visitors to rural and regional NSW, who stayed 356,000 nights.

“Business events have the capacity to deliver high-yield, concentrated bursts of activity which as a result, encourages repeat tourism, creates more jobs and helps profile towns or regions to new audiences,” Marshall said.

“We look forward to growing the conferencing industry and opportunities for rural and regional NSW.”