Queensland’s Gold Coast recently hosted 1700 of the world’s top sporting executives for SportAccord 2019.
The event, held at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, wrapped up on 10 May, and already organisers are hailing it one of the best SportAccord conferences in its history.
“There is no doubt this has been the best SportAccord ever, with delegates from across the world extremely impressed not only by the facilities on offer in Queensland but the relaxed lifestyle and the beautiful scenery of the Gold Coast,” said SportAccord managing director Nis Hatt.
“Many delegates have left the Gold Coast with the strong impression that Queensland is capable of hosting their future events and I’m sure we’ll start seeing the outcomes of the conversations had here in the weeks, months and years to come.”
SportAccord was secured through a partnership between Tourism and Events Queensland, Tourism Australia, Gold Coast City Council and Destination Gold Coast.
Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones is hopeful that the success of SportAccord 2019 will in turn attract around $100 million worth of future events for Queensland.
“We invest in major events because they pump millions of dollars into our economy and create local jobs,” she said.
“This was the first time Australia has hosted the world’s foremost sporting events conference.
“Hosting world leaders like International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach and former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon – SportAccord has given us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show the leading decision makers in international sport everything we have to offer.”
