The Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) congratulates the Shadow Minister for Tourism, The Arts, Youth and Sport, Steven Ciobo, for the Coalition’s strong support for the business events sector, as contained in an Opposition tourism announcement today.
“BECA has been briefing both the Federal Government and the Opposition for some time on just how seriously our competitor countries, particularly in Asia, have been investing in attracting major conventions and business events,” BECA Chairman Geoff Donaghy said today.
“So the business events industry certainly welcomes this election policy announcement from Mr Ciobo.
“The establishment of a new National Business Events Fund would be a major boost to supporting industry bidding and bringing more international events to Australia.
“A boost of this nature to Tourism Australia’s business events marketing budget would enable Australia to lift its efforts in a highly competitive market.
“Attracting more business events not only brings the highest spending and most lucrative of all visitors to the country, but also contributes significantly to Australia’s reputation for innovation and intellectual capability,” Mr Donaghy said.
“The business events industry in Australia is worth over $17.3 billion according to a 2005 report, but Australia’s international ranking has slipped from fourth to 16th over the past decade.”
More information on the Australian business events market and BECA’s Federal Election 2010 paper is available at BECA website