The Business Events sector is setting multiple records for Tropical North Queensland with record visitation and record leads playing an ongoing key role in the region’s recovery.
The Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef team secured 76 business events worth $53 million in overnight visitor expenditure in 2023-2024 and a record 152 leads totalling $113.2 million.
The secured events will bring in 27,755 delegates across 70,115 delegate days, building on the 62 events secured the previous financial year which are worth $42 million to the economy with 24,468 delegates across 63,225 delegate days. Cairns Regional Council funding in 2023-2024 helped to secure 30 of the events with 15,000 delegates worth $35.9 million.
These events will be held across the next few years, helping to boost the worth of the business events sector from this financial year. The unaudited Queensland Business Events Survey for 2023-2024 saw business events delegates grow to 41,309 staying 159,943 days, up 8.6% across 300 events held in Tropical North Queensland.
Our city’s role in the business events sector will gain invaluable global recognition next month when
we host Australia Next Cairns 2024. Tourism Australia is delivering the event in partnership with Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef to increase awareness of Australia as an outstanding destination for international businesses to reward and motivate high achievers.
We will host up to 85 business events buyers, 15 media and 96 Australian industry sellers at the Cairns Convention Centre from Sunday 8 September to Wednesday 11 September 2024. The incentive showcase will provide the business events industry from the Cairns & Great Barrier Reef region and across Australia with the opportunity to engage with qualified buyers from North America, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Greater China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, South Korea and Japan.
Australia Next will showcase the region’s expertise and natural beauty after a decade of strong investment in infrastructure. It will leave a legacy of understanding from around the world, including emerging markets, whose key business events buyers will be exposed to the vibrant Cairns & Great Barrier Reef story that builds on our destination’s natural assets. In addition, we will be hosting the New Zealand delegation on a pre and post event famil showcasing incentive offerings in Cairns and Port Douglas.
Australia Next will also generate $3 million in global publicity for our destination, building on the record $2 million in advertising value equivalent that our team delivered last financial year. This extraordinary figure was achieved through Business Events Australia’s Advance Program, which funded international media buys, the post-AIME and Dreamtime famil programs, and the announcement that Cairns would host Australia Next. We also hosted the first post-pandemic G’Day Australia event in Cairns for 300 Aussie Specialists in October 2023.
With the refurbished Cairns Convention Centre in operation for the first full year, TTNQ embarked on a two-tiered approach of increasing awareness of Cairns & Great Barrier Reef as a business events destination. We did this through marketing activity to inspire and inform decision-makers, targeted partnerships, educationals, and site inspections supported by a bid fund. In line with Tourism Australia, we focused on key markets and aviation access, targeting New Zealand, North America, Singapore, the UK and Europe in addition to our domestic markets.
Research told us the most effective way to secure business and develop an army of advocates was for them to visit the region, with more than 100 business events sellers and media visiting in 2023-2024. Major initiatives included a new partnership with business events members to support their clients travelling on educationals. We partnered with the Cairns Convention Centre through their Discover Cairns program to host a Professional Conference Organiser educational to celebrate the Centre’s expansion and significantly supported the annual MCI Conference. This resulted in 60 key representatives across the association, corporate and incentive sectors in the region for three days.
In-region visits were complemented by trade activity to raise destination awareness, educate, and secure leads. This proactive trade activity included joining the Business Events Australia USA Roadshow for the first time and The Meeting Show in Singapore to explore Asia-Pacific opportunities.
Cheers,
Mark Olsen
Chief Executive Officer
