Joyce DiMascio
Head of Business Events Australia
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28 August 2009
Dear Industry Colleague,
Tourism Australia’s Business Events team was a guest of the Economist Business Unit last week when their Chief Economist, Robin Bew was visiting Australia for a series of presentations on the state of the global economy.
The expansive presentation addressed the topic – Crisis Over or danger of new-found optimism? The presentation to around 40 business leaders was a salient reminder of the scale of the financial crisis which has seen the global economy shrink for the first time since the Second World War.
Mr Bew said that one of the leading indicators, the Bloomberg Survey of Purchasing Managers, has shown a more optimistic global outlook. However, there is a view that while these “green shoots” are real, some sectors are not fairing so well.
The “green shoots” have been generated by a range of factors including the upturn of the stock cycle which has seen manufacturers going back to work. Government policy around the world has played a big role to support demand and generate interest rates cuts. These factors have helped to stabilise the global economy, he said.
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According to Mr Bew, Australia “has managed to avoid some of the wrenching adjustments occurring around the world.” He said that of all the markets in the OECD Australia looks most interesting and better than anywhere. He said that Australia was deriving enormous trade benefits from China and investment in business should be relatively bright.
Enhancing Australia’s international reputation even further is at the heart of the recent announcement by Australia’s Minister for Trade, Simon Crean MP, of $20M to deliver a new Australia brand. Tourism Australia is a key member of the Austrade-led initiative which aims to underpin our trade, investment and education with a cohesive global image.
Of all the sectors of the visitor economy, the inbound business travel sector has been impacted most from the financial crisis which began in 2007. This was inevitable as companies cut back on travel and meetings and conferences.
According to partners contacted by Business Events Australia in a recent stakeholder survey the indicators are that business is returning especially for the second half of 2010. Destination Management Companies have also seen an increase in the number of meetings staying at home rather than going off-shore.
To ensure Australia continues to attract future business, we will continue with our new global marketing campaign which is currently appearing in 25 titles around the world. In addition, we are continuing with our targeted trade activities including the hosting of almost 100 qualified buyers for Dreamtime 2009 coming up in October.
Demand for Australia has been strong and we have had no difficulty attracting either qualified buyers or media. This augurs well for the success of Dreamtime 2009 and especially for host city, Sydney; airline partner, Qantas and all those operators and convention bureaux that are supporting the event.
With less than 6 weeks to go it is all systems go to put on an outstanding showcase for buyers and media from around the world.
Best wishes,
Joyce DiMascio
Head of Business Events Australia
Tourism Australia |
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Outstanding buyers interest in Dreamtime 2009
Tourism Australia has recruited more than 80 qualified incentive buyers from 15 countries from the key markets of Asia, Europe, Japan, New Zealand, the UK and the US to participate in Dreamtime 2009.
Dreamtime is Tourism Australia’s premier event for promoting Australia’s incentive experiences to the international market.
Dreamtime 2009, themed The story of Australian incentives, will be held from 12 to 16 October, in partnership with Qantas and Business Events Sydney.
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In line with Tourism Australia’s sustainable events focus, Dreamtime will be a green event with the initiatives to ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ being adopted across the whole program. A sustainability audit will be undertaken at the event to provide a benchmark for the future greening of Tourism Australia events.
For more information please contact Jodie Oberg, Dreamtime Manager. |
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Corporate & Incentive Campaign update
Business Events Australia continues its media blitz with the new campaign for the corporate meeting and incentive market appearing in more than 25 international business events publications.
The tagline ‘Take your thinking to a whole new place’ promotes Australia as a business events destination – as a place that inspires new ideas and fresh-thinking. |
Designed to keep Australia front of mind for corporate meeting and incentive buyers, the campaign has resulted in significant increases in traffic to Business Events Australia’s website, with buyers who have seen the campaign seeking more information on www.businessevents.australia.com
At the time of the campaign launch in June 2009, the website received almost double the monthly average of unique visitors than in the whole of financial year 2008/09.
There has also been considerable industry interest in co-operative activity and in the coming months, Tourism Australia’s Business Events Australia team is developing a co-operative campaign toolkit for industry. |
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New Chair for Business Events Marketing Industry Advisory Panel
Tourism Australia’s new Board Member, Kate Lamont, has accepted an invitation from Executive Chairman Rick Allert AO to Chair the Business Events Industry Advisory Panel. The panel comprises individuals on whose counsel Tourism Australia will call in relation to its global trade marketing programs for business events.
Kate is past winner of the West Australian Telstra Business Woman of the Year, Director of Committee for Perth and is the current Chair of Tourism Western Australia.
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The other members of the Business Events Industry Advisory Panel are: Joyce DiMascio, Tourism Australia; Christopher Brown, Tourism Transport Forum; Teh Eng Waa, Australian Tours Management; Anna Guillan, Voyages; Leigh Harry, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre; Bryan Holliday, ICMS Australasia; Jon Hutchison, Business Events Sydney; Peter Jones, Peter Jones Special Events; Peter Kinnane, Offsite Connections Event Management; Robyn Williams, Radio National ABC. |
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Recent meetings with the Business Events Council of Australia
As part of Tourism Australia’s ongoing business events industry stakeholder communications, Tourism Australia’s Executive Chairman, Rick Allert met with the Chairman of the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) to discuss challenges and opportunities for the business events sector in the next year.
Joyce DiMascio also presented to the BECA board meeting on Monday 24 August in Sydney. The presentation covered the Business Events Australia 09/10 trade marketing program, ongoing work with the AACB on the association market program, Dreamtime 2009, Tourism Australia’s 3-5 year strategy and the Business Events IAP.
The Business Events Australia team is also meeting with the Board of the AACB and other industry associations as part of it's onoing stakeholder program. |
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Business Events Strategy Implementation Group meets in Sydney
The second meeting of the Business Events Strategy Implementation Group was held in Sydney on Monday 24th August 2009. Chaired by Jim Starkey, the group meets twice a year to oversee the implementation of the recommendations from the National Business Events Strategy for Australia 2020.
The meeting discussed reports completed from the last meeting, including: business opportunities, research and forecasting and workforce skills. The group is also working towards a report to be provided to the Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Martin Ferguson in late 2009. |
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Tourism Australia Expo 2010
Tourism Australia will leverage the Shanghai World Expo 2010 to showcase Australia as a business events destination with a range of marketing activities.
Australia will have a significant national presence at the Expo, which is expected to attract 70 to 80 million visitors and will be the largest expo the world has ever seen. From 1 May to 31 October 2010, Australia's visually striking national pavilion will showcase Australian innovation, creativity and achievements to some 7 million visitors mostly from mainland China - an average of 38,000 people on each of the 184 days of the Expo.
Visitors to the Australia Pavilion at the Expo will “sample” Australia and provide Tourism Australia and our industry with an unprecedented opportunity to sell Australia in the growth market of China.
For business events, the target audience will be incentive travel organisers. Messaging and information will be targeted through a VIP program and demonstrate Australia’s unique experiences and ability to deliver tailored incentive programs.
For more information about the Shanghai World Expo 2010, please click here. |
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Bid wins for Australia and events calendar
Tourism Australia’s Business Events Australia unit, together with the Australian Association of Convention Bureaux (AACB), has assembled a comprehensive calendar of confirmed international association events scheduled to be hosted in Australia.
Updated quarterly, the impressive inventory shows international association events of more than 50 delegates and serves as a testament to the outstanding results being achieved by the Australian business events industry.
Click here to view the calendar.
Tourism Australia also maintains its own events calendar on the Business Events Australia website. The calendar is updated weekly and contains information about upcoming major events as well as business events taking place in Australia. |
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AACB Conference and Scholarship
The Tourism Australia and Qantas sponsored AACB Staff Scholarship will be announced at the AACB annual conference to be held in Cairns next week. Seven bureaux staff entered the award presenting a range of impressive career development projects.
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The entrants are Rebecca Gauld, Sia Glover and Juliet Lally from Brisbane Marketing; Aimee Klugel from Gold Coast Convention Bureaux; Virginie LaPlanche-Raynaud from Business Events Sydney; Danielle Ramirez from Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau; Natasha Sellei from Perth Convention Bureau.
For more information about the scholarship, including past winners, please click here. |
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UNSW annual Layton lecture
Each year the School of Marketing at the University of New South Wales holds the Annual Layton Lecture. The Layton lecture was launched in 1999 and enables a leader from the tourism and hospitality industry to address industry, staff and students on a major tourism topic or issue. This year the Australian School of Business has invited Joyce DiMascio, Head of Business Events Australia at Tourism Australia to deliver the annual address.
In the current climate of increased competition among destinations for business events, Joyce will speak about the challenges and opportunities for marketing Australia as a sustainable business events destination. |
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Tasmanian Symphony showcase for Tasmania Convention Bureau
This week in Sydney, the Tasmania Convention Bureau held its annual showcase by inviting clients and industry to the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s opening night of their fifth Sydney season. There was also a reception after the show with Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Chief Conductor & Artistic Director of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
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Expression of Interest to join the expanded Business Events Australia presence at AIME 2010
Business Events Australia will build on the success of its co-op stand partner program at AIME last year with an expanded presence again in March 2010.
In 2009, we piloted the introduction of three co-op partners on the Australia stand, Encore, ID Australia and Tour Hosts.
Following very positive feedback, it is our intention to continue to support national business events operators that have the ability to write business for Australia. We would like to open up this opportunity to an additional three co-op partners, a total of six in 2010. |
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Prices to join the Australia stand in 2010 are still to be confirmed, but will be around AUD $8,000 per operator. If you are interested in working with us under a national Australia umbrella, please register your expression of interest by email to Thomas Hill, Business Events Trade Programs Manager. Please provide the name of your company, a description of your product / service and a contact person. The selection of co-op partners will be determined by Business Events Australia to ensure the best mix of Australian product. |
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Business Events Australia targets New Zealand buyers at PAICE
Business Events Australia will target more corporate business travel from New Zealand with an expanded presence at the 2009 Pacific Area Incentives and Conferences Expo (PAICE), to be held at SKYCITY Auckland Convention Centre on 8 September 2009. |
As major sponsor for 2009, Business Events Australia has ensured high visibility for Australia at the event, which attracts more than 200 qualified New Zealand buyers. Encompassing a Business Events Australia lunch, morning and afternoon tea, and for the first time at PAICE, Business Events Australia will also take a designated booth to facilitate interviews with both hosted and day buyers.
With 44 Australian companies confirmed to exhibit, representing convention centres, visitor bureaux, hotels, destinations and more, the event will showcase Australia’s credentials as a business events destination.
PAICE will also serve to introduce Amanda Hall to the Australian and New Zealand business events industry – Amanda has recently been appointed as Trade and Events Executive, New Zealand. Amanda will be onsite to facilitate appointments with hosted buyers who organise offshore corporate events, such as incentives, meetings and conferences.
For more information, please contact Amanda Hall, Trade and Events Executive, New Zealand. |
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India Mission update – Date & Program changes
Business Events Australia has announced a change in the dates and program for the 2009 Exploratory Mission to India. The new dates for Mission are 2-6 November 2009. The destinations for the Mission are Mumbai and Delhi.
The revised program and dates allow the Mission to leverage the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) Executive Forum in Delhi. Team Australia and the Business Events Australia in-market team support the opportunity to widen our reach in Mumbai as major sponsor of ACTE’s Delhi Executive Forum. ACTE is a not for profit association which provides executive level peer to peer networking opportunities and education with an extensive membership in India.
Tourism Australia will continue to monitor the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) travel advisory regarding travel to India and will take this information into consideration when deciding with Bureau partners either to proceed, postpone or cancel the trade event.
Places are still open for Convention Bureaux to attend the Mission. Please contact Thomas Hill, Business Events Trade Programs Manager for further information |
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Australia Pavilion at EIBTM 2008 |
Strong Australian contingent at EIBTM 2009
EIBTM is one of Europe's premier exhibitions for the business events market and will be held over three days in Barcelona, Spain from 1 – 3 December 2009.
EIBTM attracts more than 7,000 visitors including 3,700 hosted buyers and media as well as almost 3000 exhibitors from 85 countries.
Tourism Australia is supporting a strong presence at EIBTM to continue to increase Australia’s visibility in the international market. The Australia pavilion will host 11 Australian partners, including Destination Management Companies, PCO’s, convention centres and convention bureaux, who will have one-on-one appointments with hosted buyers. |
The following orgainsations will be our partners for EIBTM 2009 -
Adelaide Convention Centre, arinex Pty Ltd, Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef, Cairns Convention Centre, Crown Entertainment Complex, Gold Coast Convention Bureau, JCM Destination Australia, Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau, Northern Territory Convention Bureau, Perth and
Sydney. |
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L-R Julian Good, Star City; Inthira Chan, Thomas Hill, Tourism Australia
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TABEE 2009 Gala Prize winner arrives in Australia
The winner of the TABEE 2009 grand prize, Inthira Chan, and her husband Joe recently arrived in Australia thanks to the generous support of Australian Convention Bureaux, Malaysian Airlines and industry partners.
Inthira is General Manager of Lifestyles, a direct selling company based in Bangkok. In the face of the current economic downturn, direct selling maintains demand for the C&I sector. Tourism Australia has targeted this sector through the recruitment of buyers for Dreamtime 2009 in October, and will do so again to recruit buyers for TABEE in 2010. |
TABEE 2010 will be held from 15 - 17 March.
To register your interest for TABEE 2010, please contact Thomas Hill, Business Events Trade Programs Manager. |
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Convention and Conference data – June 2009
As part of Tourism Australia’s monthly updates on conference and convention visitor arrivals, the Business Events Arrivals - June 2009 Report is now available.
During the year ended 30 June 2009, there were 166,800 convention or conference visitor arrivals, a decrease of 9 percent year-on-year.
The best performing convention or conference markets to Australia by country of residence for the year ended 30 June 2009, compared to the same period in 2008, were Papua New Guinea, Canada and the Philippines which posted increases of 69, 20, and 13 per cent respectively.
For more information, please contact Evelyn Karantonis, Market Analyst, Corporate Strategy and Research Aviation and Economic Analysis. |
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