Event hosting benefits go beyond direct revenue, says Austrade

The events industry provides local communities with major benefits beyond direct revenue, according to Austrade’s Opportunities for the Visitor Economy Report.

The report, which examines trends and explores opportunities for the visitor economy in a post-COVID world, highlighted the benefits of events to the visitor economy besides the obvious cash injection, including:

• driving incremental trips and spend to nearby destinations
• creating a positive reputation for a destination and word-of-mouth marketing
• stimulating and underwriting infrastructure investment
• building business relationships and generating new business opportunities.

The report also found that overall, those attending an event spend about twice as much per night as holiday visitors.

For example, those arriving from overseas for a business event in 2019 spent on average $4,800 during their whole trip, 83 per cent higher than a holiday maker’s $2,600, according to Austrade research.

Aussie destinations recently played host to a spate of events that made significant contributions to the visitor economy, including:

• Illuminate, South Australia, $44.8 million in economic activity for the state
• Vivid, New South Wales, injected $119 million into the NSW economy
• International rugby double-header on 27 August at Adelaide Oval, South Australia, was one of the most significant drivers of interstate visitation that month
• 22 Northern Territory events in 2021-2022 delivered a gross expenditure stimulus of $39.8 million to the Territory, plus 110,194 visitor nights
• Business Events Sydney (BESydney) reported during the 2021-2022 financial year they secured 31 meetings that will generate an estimated $132 million in direct expenditure to the New South Wales economy.

The long-term strategy for Australia’s visitor economy, THRIVE 2030, includes specific references to sporting, artistic, cultural, and business events as they support high-yield and high-revenue visitation.

States, territories and industry are encouraged to schedule and market events collaboratively to make the most of regional dispersal and repeat visitation.

With major global events such as Sydney WorldPride 2023 on the horizon, it’s an exciting time for the visitor economy.