Speaking on Global Meetings Industry Day, Australia’s trade and tourism minister Don Farrell acknowledged the value of Australia’s business events sector which contributes A$36bn (US$24.1bn) in total industry expenditure to the national economy. The Albanese Labor Government has committed to working with industry to better measure its contribution to Australia’s visitor economy and has allocated A$2mn to measure business events data in international and national data sets. The programme is being rolled out in two phases:
- Phase 1: Tourism Research Australia has introduced a new suite of questions to the National and International Visitor Surveys. These questions have been in operation since January 2023, and are already collecting data.
- Phase 2: Working closely with the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA), bespoke data collection points including venues, organisers, delegates and exhibitors will be rolled out across the nation.
New business events sector data and measurements will support decision-making about the events to target for Australia. It will also help the broader visitor economy understand how it can best benefit from business event travellers and increase the chance that international business event visitors will return to Australia for holidays in the future. “Business events are vital drivers of Australia’s visitor economy and the broader economy,” said minister Farrell. “They encourage high-yield travel, build networks, support the development of commercial concepts, and expand business opportunities. “The new business events data project is a critical part of the Government’s support for the ongoing recovery of Australia’s business events sector. Better data means better decisions, better decisions mean better events, and better events mean a bigger boost for Australia’s visitor economy.” BECA chair, Dr Leo Jago, added: “The Government’s decision to invest significant funds to underpin research to estimate the true economic value of business events addresses one of industry’s top priorities in post-pandemic recovery and growth towards 2030. “The $2m allocation is the single largest investment in business events research that we have seen and will establish a long-term framework to most accurately and consistently measure the business events industry’s contribution to the economy over the next decade.” Dr Jago added that the partnership between Tourism Research Australia and the industry in this project would ensure that the correct data were being collected in a manner credible to all levels of government. “To ensure the success of the project to estimate the economic value of business events, it is essential that industry participates and provides the necessary data in a timely fashion,” he said.
