The Australian Business Events Association (ABEA) and Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) ANZ have called for a stronger focus to be placed on growing Australia’s incentive travel sector.
Recent association discussions at a series of industry roundtables held across Sydney and Melbourne, which brought together inbound, outbound, domestic and supplier incentive practitioners, identified several barriers to growth as well as opportunities to sharpen Australia’s competitiveness as an incentive destination.
Key takeaways centred on positioning incentive travel as a strategic business tool, building clearer career and education pathways for emerging professionals, and deepening industry collaboration to strengthen long-term industry capability.
The discussions also reinforced the important role industry associations and not-for-profit bodies play in advancing the sector through advocacy, education, government engagement and research, helping create stronger outcomes for members and the broader industry.
ABEA CEO Melissa Brown said Australia had both the product and the people to compete strongly as an incentive destination:
“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 programmes.”
Brown said the roundtables reinforced that collaboration would be central to strengthening the sector’s future.
“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,” she said.
SITE ANZ president Tanya Wick said closer collaboration between the two bodies would be key to driving that agenda forward.
“Working closely with ABEA allows us to continue strengthening education, advocacy and industry capability while highlighting the value incentive travel delivers to businesses and destinations across Australia and New Zealand,” she said.
