In addition to supporting 190 local business events in 2021, Business Events Perth (BE Perth) has secured 67 national and international business events for Western Australia from 2022 to 2024, with a direct expenditure of $54 million to the State’s economy.
Outlining activities and achievements for the 2020-21 financial year, the convention bureau’s 2021 Annual Report shows a total of 108 business events are set to take place in WA through to 2024, resulting in more than 200,000 hotel room nights.
Given the significant challenges faced by the industry, BE Perth Chair Bradley Woods said the organisation was extremely proud to have achieved such a strong result.
“The past two years have been difficult for business events due to the impact of the pandemic, but the support of BE Perth’s major stakeholders; Tourism WA, City of Perth, and our Member Partners has ensured a strong platform for recovery,” Woods said.
“The delegates attending the events we have secured for future years will stay in our hotels, dine at local restaurants, drink at our bars and pubs, shop in our retail outlets, and take some time out to hop on a tour, all of which will support local businesses, providing jobs for West Australians.”
While the 67 events secured in FY21 were critical to securing the path to recovery for WA’s business events industry, BE Perth chief executive officer Gareth Martin said they were not the organisation’s only strategy at play through the ongoing impact of the pandemic.
“We’ve provided tangible support for the recovery of WA’s business events industry, and I’m proud to say that in the 2020-21 financial year, BE Perth supported 190 local business events that have brought more than 82,000 delegates together across the State, ensuring our venues and suppliers had a steady stream of bookings generating much needed revenue to keep their doors open while we wait for the stable return of national and international events,” Martin said.
BE Perth also implemented a major content development strategy to enhance its capabilities in marketing WA as a preferred business event destination via digital channels.
“This has included our 3D venue tours, new website and interactive business event planner, as well as our member content creation program, which has funded the creation of new marketing assets by our member venues and suppliers.
“We’ve also broadened our reach beyond our traditional remit, now with dedicated staff representation in our major national markets, have sponsored events across Australia through our Keynote Speaker Initiative, with the condition that those events book WA for a future year, and also implemented our Member Professional Development Program, which supported our members to send their staff to conferences or training events in the interest of professional development.”
