The Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, has welcomed the release of the National Business Events Strategy, developed by the Business Events Council of Australia, the Tourism and Transport Forum, Australian Hotels Association, and the Australian Export and Tourism Council.
Minister Ferguson said: "I am pleased to have received this Strategy, which is the culmination of a lot of hard work by the sector to outline their priorities and recommendations.
"The Australian Government acknowledges the value and importance of business events to Australia. It contributes $17.4 billion to the economy annually and generates an estimated 116,000 jobs.
"Business events are a growing and high-yield tourism sector which Australia needs to more vigorously pursue.
"Last year, conference and convention visitors rose nine per cent, while total business visitors were up seven per cent.
"Business travellers are high yield customers; a National Business Events Study found international business events delegates spend an average of $554 daily, compared with $94 for leisure tourists.
"This sector offers enormous potential for the broader tourism industry and the National Business Events Strategy is a welcome addition to the important work that Tourism Australia is doing with industry to market Australia as an attractive destination for business events.
"The Strategy they have developed will also make an important contribution to the Australian Government's development of a National Long-Term Tourism Strategy, particularly given a number of constraints identified by the business events sector are shared by the wider tourism industry."