Flight Centre coming home with 4,500-strong gathering in Brisbane

Brisbane has been selected to host one of the world’s largest travel industry conferences, with Flight Centre Travel Group set to bring its global conference to the region in July 2020. Organisers predict the event will attract 4,500 travel consultants, executives and senior travel industry figures. The incentive event was secured by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and Brisbane City Council through Brisbane Marketing. Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said Flight Centre’s Global Gathering conference would deliver a AUD$7m economic boost toi the local economy and he looked forward to welcoming the company’s top achievers to its global headquarters. “We’re confident that once the world’s leading travel professionals experience what Brisbane has to offer, they too will become advocates for our incredible city,” Cr Schrinner said. Flight Centre Travel Group managing director Graham Turner said the annual conference, known as the Global Gathering, would run 10-12 July next year. “The Global Gathering is the most important conference on our annual calendar and is a keenly anticipated event,” Turner added. “Brisbane is our global headquarters, so it’s fitting that we bring our people to the city to take part in this important event and to sample South-East Queensland’s world class features and attractions. “The overwhelming majority of the delegates will be travel consultants and they will gain first-hand experience of these features and attractions and will then share that knowledge with their customers, opening the door to further tourism benefits long into the future. Delegates will be encouraged to extend their stays to make the most of their visits to Queensland and to Australia. Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones added: “We bid for events like this because they help to grow our tourism industry and create jobs in Queensland. “The fact that we’ve been able to secure one of the industry’s largest global conferences for Brisbane proves that our reputation as a world-class destination for events continues to improve.” The Global Gathering was last held in Australia in 2001 (Sydney), and previous keynote speakers have included former United States president Bill Clinton, Andre Agassi, Michael J Fox and Gwyneth Paltrow. The 2019 Global Gathering was held in Las Vegas and featured Mark Wahlberg.