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28 March 2025

Business Events Australia Industry Update

Welcome to the latest edition of the Business Events Australia Industry newsletter where we provide an update on Tourism Australia’s marketing and distribution activities to drive demand and support for Australia’s business events industry.

This month our distribution team have been busy connecting with customers – we have been travelling North America with Australian industry, gathering insights and highlighting why there’s nothing like Australia for business events. Our team in Asia delivered a successful Best Partner Program in India and held customer advisory panels in Greater China to gather insights to help inform our strategy. Whilst in the UK, the team connected with incentive and corporate planners at the micebook Expo.

Our marketing efforts continue to drive awareness and consideration for Australia. Coverage from interviews at AIME are appearing in top tier business events publications. And we continue to deliver new content and visual assets across our channels to help support business events planners put Australia on the consideration list.

But as always, we’re keen to hear what’s happening across Australia – this information helps inform the work we do so please continue to share your news and updates and contact us with any questions.

Latest News

WESTERN MARKET ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS

Earlier this month, Business Events Australia attended Northstar’s Successful Meetings University (SMU) International in New York along with 16 Australian industry. Over two days, Team Australia held more than 250 one on one appointments with qualified meeting and incentive buyers, providing an update on their business events product and highlighted why there’s nothing like Australia for business events.

Following SMU, Business Events Australia kicked off the North America Roadshow, heading to Toronto, Minneapolis, St Louis and Dallas where they met with North American planners representing corporate, incentive and association business. Held over three days, the team were joined on the Roadshow by 17 Australian industry sellers representing airline, destinations, accommodation and Destination Management Companies.

Australia continues to be considered a bucket-list destination in North America. With a favourable exchange rate and no additional taxes or tipping required, there is an opportunity for Australian industry to educate North American planners on the value for money proposition for hosting an event in Australia. Australia’s business events product (including new hotels/experiences), and the ease of travelling here (including visas) are seen as favourable for this key market.

ASIA MARKET ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS

In February, Business Events Australia hosted Customer Advisory Panels in Greater China to gather market insights from 30 agents from the top agencies in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Key insights from the sessions included the growing demand for events in emerging industries such as technology and Artificial Intelligence, and that subvention continues to be critical in a competitive environment. Agents are also seeing a growth in small to medium-sized incentive groups from the region.

In March Business Events Australia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Infinitus China, one of the country’s largest direct selling companies. The MoU will help drive further demand for Australia and will provide our destinations with the opportunity to bid for Infinitus China’s annual incentive, travelling from 2027 to 2031.

While in South South East Asia, Business Events Australia held a Best Partner Program in New Delhi, India in partnership with Make My Trip and Singapore Airlines. Ninety corporate customers from 50 companies across manufacturing, direct selling, insurance and automotive industries attended the event, where they received an update on the latest business events offerings from Australia. Key insights include the desire to include new product and experiences in their programs and that Australia is still seen as a highly desirable destination in the region.

AUSTRALIA NEXT MAGAZINE

In case you missed it, the latest edition of Australia Next magazine is out now. Hosted on the Business Events Australia website, planners can easily read the inspiring content, search the magazine and re-package the content directly into presentations. Whilst the platform has changed, the familiar style of the magazine hasn’t. Planners will still find bite-sized, insightful content featuring new product and experiences to help them plan their next program in Australia.