Queensland Government’s Convention and Exhibition Centre Economic Recovery Bid Support Program has initiated more than $43 million worth of valuable national business events for the state.
Launched in April 2022, the $7 million dollar funding was a first-time collaboration between the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport and Queensland’s three state owned venues – Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Cairns Convention Centre and Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, aimed at returning high spending conferences and business travellers to Queensland.
Since then, the three Centres have collectively secured 37 national conferences, bringing 24,000 delegates and delivering 80,000 room nights to the cities of Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns and regions, along with accompanying partners, exhibitors and contractors.
The events will have a significant flow-on effect on the regions with each conference anticipated to support the creation of thousands of jobs across the hospitality, travel and tourism sectors and local businesses.
“Queensland’s convention centres in Cairns, Brisbane and the Gold Coast offer Queensland’s great lifestyle with a perfect mix of business and leisure. We know nothing beats face-to-face networking for shaking off the pandemic and getting back to business, that’s why the Queensland Government has a $7 million conference incentive program,” Queensland Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said.
“Our world-class convention centres are close to CBDs, international airports, quality accommodation and Australia’s best visitor experiences. Pulling the plug on virtual conferencing and booking in Queensland ensures your next real-world business event is the well-attended success it deserves to be.”
The Program encourages interstate event organisers to choose Queensland as the destination for their events on more than one occasion due to the flexibility, incentive nature and duration of the package.
The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre has secured the first multi-year deal with the Australia and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists, expected to attract more than 1,000 delegates and global experts in 2023 and 2024.
As a result of the funding, Cairns Convention Centre has been successful in attracting a number of conferences for the first time, providing the opportunity for those event organisers to experience the new business events infrastructure, part of the Centre’s $176 million expansion, and for delegates to explore a new destination experience.
The first of the newly confirmed conferences heading to Queensland was The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) National Conference, Medicines Management 2022, which saw Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) welcome more than 1,000 delegates for the three-day event in December 2022.
