The first report in a decade on the Australian business events sector confirms that it is a major driver of the Australian economy and has enormous potential for dramatic growth in the post-mining boom.
In the last financial year, 37 million people attended more than 412,000 business events held across in Australia, and provided 179,357 jobs.
Key figures from the report show that business events: contributed $28 billion in direct expenditure; value added $20.3 billion; critically supported Australia’s GDP with a total economic contribution of $23.1 billion over one year; provide major benefit to regional areas with 178,000 regional events hosted.
The study titled, The Value of Business Events to Australia was commissioned by the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA), co-funded by the federal government and conducted by the global research firm EY.
The number of people participating in business events is significant when compared to other major public events.
For example, 37 million business event attendees equates to 8 times the attendance at Sydney 2000 Olympics Games and 530 Australian Open tournaments.
BECA chairman Matthew Hingerty said the study demonstrates why government and industry should continue to invest in the sector.
"Business events are an economic powerhouse – they foster trade, export, investment, diplomacy, education and knowledge transfer," he said.
"They also generate employment, tax revenue and stimulate the visitor economy with their benefits spreading across both city and regional economies."
Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb said that business events are extremely important in promoting Australia to the world.
While the report reveals the strength of the business events industry in Australia, on an international level, Australia has slipped in its rankings from 13th in 2012 to 16th in 2013, in the latest International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) rankings.
ICCA measures the frequency of rotating association meetings taking place in 90 countries around the world.
While the report gives strong evidence of the power of events, on a world stage, Australia is losing market share.
The full report The Value of Business Events to Australia is available at http://www.businesseventscouncil.org.au