Sydney has retained its position as the world’s favourite Australian destination for business events according two global rankings announced in Frankfurt overnight.

The city was confirmed the Australian destination of choice for the world’s Association event community, ranking number 1 in Australia and 8th in the Asia Pacific in the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) 2024 Country and City Rankings.

Business Events Sydney (BESydney) CEO Lyn Lewis – Smith said the results were a strong endorsement for Sydney’s impact-driven strategy to target global conferences that attract delegates that contribute both economically and socially to the destination and country’s growth.

“In this year’s ranking report ICCA spoke of the importance for destinations to ‘think more holistically about strategic meeting selection, and how to measure economic returns on internationalisation and city development’, beyond the traditional tourism short-term sugar hit of ‘heads in beds’.

“Our Beyond Tourism Benefits research, now into its 14th year, proves how events that align global Association and local destination economic goals catalyse global research collaborations and tradeflows, link investors with new growth opportunities and mobilise talent flows.”

Sydney’s popularity with the global event planner community was also recognised, securing Top 3 Meeting Destination in the Asia Pacific in the annual rankings by meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider Cvent.

The Cvent Top Meeting Destinations lists analyse and rank cities that stand out for their exceptional ability to attract group business through thoughtful event planner collaboration, distinctive experiential offerings, and unique hotels and venues. Rankings are determined based on sourcing and request-for-proposal (RFP) activity through the Cvent Supplier Network, one of the world’s largest venue-sourcing platforms. 

These 2024 global rankings successes come as BESydney reports an early 2025 winning streak securing a surge of major international conference wins, ensuring a strong pipeline of meetings for the years ahead. 

In 2025 to date BESydney’s bidding team has secured 34 new meetings to be attended by more than 29,000 delegates generating an estimated $126 million in direct expenditure to the local economy. The future is also bright with more than $580million worth of events heading to Sydney between now and 2030.

Lyn Lewis-Smith said, “Sydney’s industry strengths and connectivity is a competitive advantage for event-owners choosing our city to host their delegates. The expertise of our business events industry has the most discerning global Associations and companies entrusting their events with us each year.

“Sydney’s ability to deliver innovative and creative events with ideas that inspire is born from the great people of this city. Working in partnership with First Nations and local communities, our NSW industry partners, global ambassadors and government help us to tailor new experiences for delegates, connect thought leaders and generate business outcomes that will guarantee a sustainable pipeline of events.

“I’d like to thank Tourism Australia for their continued support with our bidding processes and helping the team to deliver fantastic results. The Tourism Australia Bid Fund is an essential funding source within our industry, as it ensures destinations like Sydney remain competitive on an international stage.”

Photo: Lyn Lewis-Smith (supplied)