Australia’s destinations, products and experiences were on show in Shanghai this week, for the annual Business Events Australia Greater China Showcase.

Held from 24 to 26 September in Wuzhen near Shanghai, the showcase aims to connect 39 Australian businesses with 80 key buyers from Greater China.

The event included presentations on Australia’s business event offerings, one-on-one business appointments as well as networking events. Attendees were given a taste of Australian food and wine, and even sampled a Bloody Berry Pavlova crafted by Craig Willis, co-founder of Wr Willis Shanghai, a renowned Australian restaurant chain in China.

Penny Lion, executive general manager events at Tourism Australia, said the Business Events Australia China Showcase is one of the most important events of the year for Australian industry partners.

“Business events is a lucrative sector for Australia, injecting over $5 billion dollars annually to Australia’s economy, and China is one of our key markets,” she said.

“We’re excited to bring together our Australian partners for the Greater China Showcase to promote our destination and continue to review the needs of Chinese event planners and corporate decision makers.”

Last year the Greater China Showcase took place in Australia for the first time, with the Melbourne event securing 89 leads and three wins to the value of $89.9 million.

For the 12 months to March 2019 Australia welcomed 97,000 business events visitors from China, which was down 3 per cent on the previous 12 months, however total nights grew by 5 per cent which saw total spend grow by 8 per cent to $600 million.

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