INT’L EVENTS IN DECLINE: AACB

THE number of international business events being lured to Australia is shrinking, according to a report tabled by the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB).

The latest edition of the

AACB’s Forward Calendar of International Business

Events shows the number of international events secured for the future has fallen over the last six months from 396 to 361.

The AACB also has concerns about the number of bids lost.

“A total of 304 international business events were lost, translating to $1 billion in delegate expenditure that will now be spent in other countries,” said AACB chief executive officer Andrew Hiebl.

“Only a decade ago, Australia was consistently among the top 10 most popular countries to host major international association conventions... In 2016, our ranking dropped to 16th in the world,” he added.

Tempering the unfavorable numbers however, was the Australian Government’s recent announcement of a $12 million Boosting Business Events Bid Fund program (BEN 21 Mar), a move the AACB believes will help arrest the slide in successful bids.

“We are confident that the decline in our international positioning can be reversed,” Hiebl said.

“There are currently 236 international business events in the pipeline, with potentially half a billion dollars in expenditure to be won”.

The industries that have managed to land the most international events since Jan this year have been healthcare (33%), professional, scientific and technical services (18.3%), and financial and insurance services (6.9%).

Healthcare will also attract the most delegates to Australia with those wins, with 125,927 expected to travel down under to attend events.

The report also outlines the primary reasons Australia loses out on global events, with 30.6% of responders claiming Australia’s remote location as the biggest deterrent.

Another adverse factor listed was a lack of key execs (14.5%).