About 1,000 delegates for The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists’ “Psychiatry and Mental Health Conference” will come to Hobart this month.

Members of the College will convene at the Hotel Grand Chancellor for the conference themed “Cells, Circuits and Syndromes” which features eminent international keynote speakers from the UK, Norway, USA, Canada and South Africa. The delegates, keynote speakers, trade partners and VIPs will be staying at a number of hotels around Hobart.

Highlights of the conference will take place in the best that Hobart has to offer including the Federation Concert Hall for College Honours Ceremony.

The social program includes a welcome dinner at MONA, a Gala Dinner at Princes Wharf 1, and faculty and special interest group dinners are organised at various restaurants around Hobart. Over the time of the conference the delegates will experience the best of Tasmania’s fresh produce, food and award winning wines.

Business Events Tasmania CEO, Stuart Nettlefold, said “Business events delegates contribute substantially to the Tasmanian economy and community. When a conference of this size is in town everyone benefits. Taxis are full, restaurants are full, retailers do a roaring trade…it’s not just the conference venue and conference suppliers that benefit. In addition, there is additional value contributes by partners and family members who often accompany the delegate, as well as the pre and post conference touring to other destinations within Tasmania.

The meeting of 1,000 psychiatrists in Hobart also serves to address one of our greatest challenges; the perception that Tasmania is a destination only for small business events when in reality we can host up to 1100 delegates.”

Business events held in Tasmania during this month will see over 3,000 delegate arrivals; this is almost twice the number that visited in May last year. Other major business events held during May include the 8th International Abalone Symposium with 350 delegates, Nurses for Nurses Network 2012 Conference with 100 delegates, and the Australian Vegetable and Potato Growers Federation which included the AusVeg National Convention Trade Show and Awards for Excellence with just on 1,000 delegates.

To assist in securing events during the winter months, Business Events Tasmania administers the government funded Meet in Tasmania Incentive Scheme, which provides funding to association conferences that choose to host their conferences in the state between May and September which is traditionally a quiet time for the tourism industry.

The Incentive is extremely popular and is often oversubscribed with a waiting list. The Business Events Tasmania team use the incentive as a sales tool to secure events that may have otherwise gone to another destination.

During winter this year Business Events Tasmania will have assisted in securing 42 business events with over 13,000 delegates. The nature of the conferences vary immensely. For example, Tasmania will be hosting the 2012 National Square Dancers Association Convention, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting 2012, the Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society Conference and the inaugural National Hospitality Conference 2012.