The Gold Coast’s International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) country and city ranking has risen 131 places between 2016 and 2017.
Moving up from 279th in the world in 2016, it is now 148th globally according to recent statistics.
Gold Coast was the highest rated regional destination in Australia, ranked fourth after capital cities Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
According to Anna Case, director of global business events, the city has proven its capability as a highly competitive destination to host major international business events.
“As a beach resort city in a regional location, the Gold Coast punches well above its weight in attracting business events,” she said.
“We’re a city in high demand and we’ve never been in a better position to host large scale international business events, particularly following the injection of infrastructure from the highly successful Commonwealth Games last month.”
Overall meeting numbers for the Gold Coast have also increased, with recent Queensland Business Events Survey (QBES) results revealing growth in meetings and delegate numbers. The data also indicates the overall estimated economic impact of conferences and meetings held on the Gold Coast increased by 18 per cent in the twelve months to 30 June 2017.
“These results reflect the impressive standard of venues and service on offer in our city. The Destination Gold Coast team works in close collaboration with our industry partners to highlight the destination’s ability to offer an inspiring and memorable experience for business events,” said Case.
The number of Gold Coast meetings increased from 3340 to 3416 in FY17, the number of delegates increased from 234,000 to 277,000 in FY17, and the estimated economic impact of conferences increased from $565 million in FY16 to $670 million in FY17.
