Brisbane on the road in China, with big incentive

The Brisbane Convention Bureau has led five local tourism and hotel operators on a China roadshow to spread the message about Brisbane’s incentive offerings. Joining the bureau on the five-day China Incentives Roadshow were representatives from Brisbane’s Story Bridge Adventure Climb, outdoor adventure activities hub Riverlife, Tangalooma Island Resort, lifestyle, event and tourism precinct Howard Smith Wharves, and the inner-city Pullman and Mercure Brisbane King George Square hotel. Bureau general manager Juliet Alabaster said the roadshow involved briefings in Shanghai and Beijing with Chinese meetings and incentives agents. There was also a Brisbane destination seminar and networking event in Beijing. “We were delighted to visit China to increase buyer knowledge about Brisbane as an incentive destination and provide Brisbane industry representatives the opportunity to meet face-to-face with Chinese MICE agents,” Alabaster said. “We also saw this roadshow as a way to gain greater insight into Chinese incentive industry development, trends and opportunities for Brisbane.” Alabaster said China was Brisbane’s leading international inbound market with more than 230,000 visitors in 2017, up 7.4% on the previous year. “There is an increasing appetite across China to experience everything that Brisbane has to offer, from exciting city experiences to outdoor natural wonders – it really is the best of Australia in one place,” she said. “We have also seen greater interest from Greater China MICE agents since Brisbane hosted Tourism Australia’s signature incentive showcase Dreamtime last year,” Alabaster added, noting there were direct air routes including Air China flights from Beijing, Hainan Airlines flights from Shenzhen, and upgraded China Airlines flights from Taipei. Brisbane’s China Incentives Roadshow was supported through the Queensland government’s Connecting with Asia programme which aims to build stronger relationships with targeted Asian cities and grow awareness of Queensland experiences.