Tourism Australia’s focus on business events

Promoting Australia’s business events sector remains a key priority for Tourism Australia (TA) according to newly appointed managing director, Geoff Buckley.
Mr Buckley said TA recognised the importance of the business events sector and established Tourism Events Australia to focus on growing Australia’s share of
the market.
Our role in the sector is to raise the appeal and commitment to choosing Australia as a destination for corporate meetings and incentives,” he said.

“We are focused on exerting our influence where we can have the greatest impact. This means targeting the people who make the decisions when it comes to meetings and incentives.

“As far as major events are concerned TA has focused its activities on contextualising events for potential visitors.”

Key targets included:
• Corporate decision makers;
• Corporate influencers (i.e. persons within a corporate entity that recommend the destination and venue for incentives and corporate meetings);
• Intermediaries (such as travel agents in Asia and Incentive Houses in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe); and
• Local influencers.

Mr Buckley said during 2006 TA had conducted four events as part of Team Australia in Bangkok, London, San Francisco and China, participated in five major international trade shows for the sector, delivered a dedicated program for the Commonwealth Games to highlight Australia’s capacity as a destination for major events and delivered Dreamtime 2006.

“We have also been consulting with our Australian industry stakeholders and involving them in the journey to ensure that they too have input into and support the direction we are taking,” he said.

“As an industry we need to continue to work together to ensure that in the long term we deliver the very best outcomes for Australia by harnessing the value of the important business events sector.”

In 2006/07 key business events activities would largely replicate plans of the 05/06 program.

“This decision is based on acknowledgement that there is a successful formula for business events activities that should be pursued to ensure consistency is a cornerstone of activities going forward,” Mr Buckley said.

Thus the TA corporate familiarisation program will continue to run during 2006/2007, bringing qualified clients to Australia. Corporate decision makers from North America, New Zealand, Asia and the UK will be invited.
With the growth in business from both China and India, preliminary discussions had been held regarding the possibility of two Asian familiarisations – one from North Asia and another from South Asia. Additionally India will be explored for the potential to bring a dedicated familiarisation to Australia from this region.
Team Australia will also continue to play a part in co-operative international business events marketing activities with proposed activities including Team Australia Asia (TABEE) and Team Australia Exploratory Mission.
TA is also committed to attending major trade shows including IT&ME, EIBTM, IMEX and MPI. Additional opportunities are being explored in China, North America and New Zealand.

“We also remain committed to market insights and will invest in ongoing research.” Mr Buckley said.

“Newsletters, website development and enhancement, and the events calendar continue to form key elements of the program for 2006/07 in the knowledge that these activities add value to the sector.”

The value of business tourism came to the fore at the TA hosted Dreamtime.
This major trade show, aimed at incentive buyers, attracted 110 international delegates and 62 Australian sellers.
TA used the show as a platform to launch a new study on the incentive market.
The National Incentives Study 2004 was undertaken to increase understanding of the incentives sector in Australia. The study follows on from the 2003 National Business Events Study report released in 2004.
The Incentive Study focused solely on the incentive
market with key findings highlighting the economic contribution, source markets and destinations of the Australian incentive sector.
According to the study inbound incentive travel delivered 154,605 visitors in 2004 and contributed about $304 million to Australia’s inbound tourism expenditure. It also showed the average revenue received from an incentive visitor was three times that of a leisure visitor $375 per day verses $91 per day. However revenues did vary depending on the delegate’s country of origin.
Participants from South-East Asia spent around $212 per day while European delegates spent up to $725.
On average organisations operating in the incentive area submitted 68 proposals in 2004/2005 and achieved an annual success rate of 28 per cent.
The bulk of the business originated from North-East Asia and South-East Asia (over 70 per cent). Main individual countries were Japan and the United States.
The most popular state destination was Queensland followed by New South Wales. Comparing the results of the latest study with the National Business Events Study TA found several major trends, most interestingly the decision
by international hoteliers to use their own networks to
source incentives.
The extent of this change, which saw hotels attract 80,000 delegates in their own right, surprised TA.
TA also used Dreamtime to announce it would run a three year global campaign to target the international incentive market.
The campaign was expected to kick off around February/March and initially have a budget of around $1.7 million. It will aim to convince key business decision makers of the benefits of travelling to Australia for their business.
The campaign structure is likely to include direct marketing, the web, public relations activities and invitee programs.
At the same time, according to Mr Buckley, the campaign was just one component of the marketing mix in the business events sector.

“It will not replace other activities such as familiarisations, missions, trade events and public relations activity. All of these activities are fundamental to our role in building future corporate meeting and incentive business to Australia,” he said.

DREAMTIME HIGHLIGHTS

Dreamtime provided the Gold Coast with the perfect opportunity to show what it could offer the incentive
market.
Activities undertaken by buyers included an afternoon of lawn bowling with members of the Broadbeach Bowling Club. This was arranged to give the buyers the chance to meet with locals. Later there was time for a game of bingo and then delegates were transported back to their hotels on the back of Harley Davidsons’ and in vintage cars.
The group also visited Dreamworld, Seaworld and Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove while functions were also held on the 77th floor of QI and Palazzo Versace Hotel.
The gala dinner was a highlight for many delegates. Held on a rural property at Hidden Valley in the Hinterland guests were greeted on arrival by stilt walkers blowing enormous bubbles.
They then entered a huge marquee resplendently decorated with two most impressive chandeliers.
Tables clad in white linens, with silver organza overlays, menus rapped in silver ribbon and white satin chair covers added to the ‘format feel’ within the marquee. Scattered throughout the room in small clusters were white fibre optic trees. The first entertainers of the evening were performers who showed their skill with fire including some remarkable ‘fire-eaters’
Then while enjoying a three-course meal of the finest local produce and complementing wines, delegates were entertained by a jazz band playing a mix of traditional jazz and funk. The final performer was Australian diva Danielle Everett.
A Very Opulent Affair was the theme for the final cocktail party, held at the Palazzo Versace Hotel. On the bus transfers from their hotels guests were given masks to wear. On arrival at the hotel they were greeted by wait-staff serving drinks and gold painted human statues.
The entertainment was provided by two opera singers, dressed in the finest Versace outfits, who performed opera favourites on the pool side beach area outside the lobby.
Key Facts
The latest figures on the business events industry released by Tourism Australia show:

Value of Business Events to Australia
• In 2005/06, Australia attracted more than half a million (765,900) business visitors. This includes 596,000 “business” visitors and 169,800 “convention/conference” visitors. (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Overseas Arrivals and Departures).
• Business related travel by international visitors represents a significant market for Australia, generating $2.2 billion per annum (real Total Inbound Economic Value).
• International business visitors spent a total of 10.3 million nights in Australia during 2005/06. This represents 7 per cent of the total number of nights spent by all international visitors in Australia. (Source: Tourism Research Australia, International Visitor Survey).
• During 2005/06 international business visitors spent on average AUD2,700 per person on trips to Australia (real Total Inbound Economic Value). Per night, business visitors spend AUD210 during their stay in Australia. (Source: Tourism Research Australia, International Visitor Survey).

Key Markets
• New Zealand delivers the most business visitors each year followed by US, China, UK, Singapore, Japan, India and Hong Kong. (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics).
• In terms of expenditure each year, US business travellers lead the way ($387 million), followed by New Zealand ($300 million), the UK ($194 million), China ($175 million), Japan ($142 million), Singapore ($119 million) and Korea ($82 million). (Source: Tourism Research Australia, International Visitor Survey).

Australia’s Ranking
Source: ICCA Data, Statistics Report – International Association Meetings Market 1996-2005. Released: June 2006.
• In terms of association meetings per country, Australia remains in 8th place in the global rankings in 2005, after occupying the same position in 2004. The USA was ranked number one, followed by Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Netherlands and Italy. In 1995 Australia had a market share of 3.1 per cent comparative to all other countries, an increase from 2.9 per cent in 2004. Australia's market share peaked in 2000 with 4.2 per cent.
• Australia is ranked 5th globally in terms of future scheduled meetings with 4.2 per cent market share, behind the USA, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy.
• In terms of meetings per country in 2005, Australia maintained its position of number one ranking in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region, holding 164 international meetings. Japan was ranked second, followed by China, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, and India.
• In terms of market share, Europe remains number one in 2005 with almost 60 per cent of the meetings market, compared to all other regions. Europe’s market share has remained relatively stable over the last decade. Australia’s market share remained steady in 2005 with a total of 3.6 per cent. Asia Pacific and Middle East has the second largest market share with 18 per cent in 2005 – the highest percentage for this region of the past 10 years. North America’s market share decreased gradually over the past decade from 14 per cent in 1996, to 10.6 per cent in 2005, representing the lowest percentage of the past 10 years. Latin America’s market share increased to a record percentage of 7.4 per cent in 1995.
• Sydney jumped the rankings in 2005 to achieve equal 17th in the world for the number of meetings, up from equal 27th in 2004. This was a significant recovery for Sydney, whose highest recent position was 14th in the world in 2003. Melbourne has also improved its ranking to 22nd in the world in 2005, up from equal 29th in 2004. The next highest ranked Australian city in 2005 was Cairns in equal 63rd place, a drop from 54th place in 2004. Brisbane was ranked equal 80th in 2005, a drop from 31st position in 2004. Perth was in equal 87th position, after joining the rankings in 2004 in 85th place. All other Australian cities hosted less than 10 international meetings in 2005, and as such were not included in the rankings.
• In 2005, Sydney was ranked 6th place for number of meetings per city when compared with other cities in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region. Melbourne closely follows in 7th position. Cairns is ranked 15th, Brisbane 17th, Perth equal 18th, Adelaide equal 29th, and the Gold Coast equal 35th.
• Sydney is ranked equal 11th place globally for cities by number of future scheduled meetings (2006-2017) with 59 meetings forecast, a drop from 9th position in 2004. Melbourne is in 19th place with 52 meetings (a drop from 13th position) and Brisbane is ranked 25th with 42 meetings, up from 27th position in 2004.
• Australia is ranked 16th in the world for the estimated total number of participants attending international meetings in 2005 (83,334 participants), a decrease from 93,309 participants in 2004. In 1996, the figure for Australia was 94,593 participants. The number of meeting participants peaked in 2000, with 143,799 participants. In the Asia Pacific and Middle East region, Australia is in 2nd position in terms of estimated total number of participants attending international meetings. Japan was ranked second in the region.
• The average number of participants per meeting in 2005 was 651 participants, the lowest average for the past ten years. Partly this is due to ICCA identifying a growing number of smaller meetings, and does not necessarily imply attendance is declining. There was a peak in 2000, with the average number of participants per meeting at 843. In 2005 the average number of participants per international meeting for Australia decreased, with an average of 507 participants, down from an average of 558 participants in 2004, and 889 participants in 2003. In 1996, the average number of participants in Australia was 743.
• September has been the most popular month over the past decade for organising international association meetings. The period from May until October has always been the most popular time to organise meetings in the past 10 years, but November has steadily increased in popularity.
• In the past decade, annual meetings have been the most common, with approximately half of all international association meetings being annual meetings. The amount of biennial meetings (meetings which take place every two years) is gradually dropping over the years from 29.6 per cent of all meetings in 1996 to 22.9 per cent in 2005.
• The average length of meetings in 2005 was 4.08 days, which is the smallest average over the past decade. Generally, there is a trend that to shorter international meetings, which can be partly explained by the increased number of smaller meetings that tend to have a shorter duration. * Although international meetings related to Medical Science remained the most popular content in 2005, the number was at an all time low of 22.6 per cent of all meetings. Meetings in Science, Technology and Industry have been respectively second, third and fourth every year since 1996, except 2003, when Technology was third and Science placed fourth.