Cairns Convention Centre has won the bid to host the 2021 Congress of International Society for Plant Molecular Biology (IPMB).
Cairns, located in Tropical North Queensland, beat off strong competition from Canada and North America to secure the congress, which will attract 1200 of the world’s leading plant molecular biologists.
The bid was a joint effort between the Cairns Convention Centre and a group of 60 plant scientists led by Associate Professor Joshua Mylne from the University of Western Australia.
“In the next few decades the world expects two billion more mouths to feed while our climate changes, so understanding how plant growth, development and crop yield respond to the environment has never been more important,” said Mylne.
“This congress will bring together over a thousand plant biologists from around the world who are making the latest discoveries on how genes, proteins, metabolism and physiology influence plant growth.”
Cairns Convention Centre general manager Ross Steele welcomed the congress win.
“Attracting this event is a coup for Cairns and required significant collaboration between academia, government and industry which indicates how important the IPMB Congress is to Australia,” he said.
“Dr Mylne and the convention centre team’s tenacity in helping to bring these elements together will deliver around $6 million in economic benefit to our region.
“More importantly, this event will have a positive impact on our agricultural community, which is Tropical North Queensland’s second largest industry.”
BID FUND SUPPORTS WIN
The bid was supported by the Business Events Australia national bid fund and Tourism and Events Queensland’s business events acquisition and leveraging fund.
Minster for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham said the congress will be a huge economic and tourism boost for the region.
“Cairns will have the chance to show-off its unique ecosystems, experiences and attractions whilst at the same time see millions injected into local businesses and the economy,” he said.
“Business events such as this one, are extremely valuable to our economy, with the average business events visitor spending at least twice as much as a leisure visitor.”
