The Adelaide Convention Tourism Authority’s (ACTA) North Asian account manager, Siddarth Ketkar has been announced as the winner of Australia’s most lucrative Meetings Industry scholarship.

At a glittering ceremony conducted by the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) in Darwin on September 8, Ketkar was awarded the 2007 prize that is jointly sponsored by Qantas, Tourism Australia and the AACB.

Ketkar, who will undertake the work as part of a Master’s thesis, will focus his research on the opportunities and barriers to entry for Australia in the Indian Corporate and Incentive sector.

In making the announcement, AACB’s Executive Director Michael Cannon noted the quality of the submission, which promises to deliver very useful market intelligence to the broader Australian meetings Industry.

“As an emerging market, India ranks second only to China in potential”, Cannon said.

In response, Ketkar acknowledged the sponsors, which have supported the prize annually for the last nine years.

“It is a great honour to have won this award, and I am excited about the opportunities for Australia in this segment”, Ketkar said. “

Indian’s are on the move, and I intend finding out how to attract them to Adelaide, Australia’s perfect meetings city”, he added.