CAIRNS and “Tropical North Queensland” – including the Great Barrier Reef – are among the locations being toured by 80 international buyers as part of Business Events Australia’s signature incentive-travel showcase.
Australia Next, formerly known as Dreamtime, kicked off in Cairns on September 9, beginning with a welcoming ceremony performed by representatives of the Gimuy people – the original custodians of the city’s lands – followed by business meetings involving 96 Australian suppliers.
The buyer-seller appointments at the new convention centre in Cairns were followed by fam trips to regions around Australia to heighten awareness of the country as a business events destination.
Business Events Cairns and Great Barrier Reef, along with Tourism Tropical North Queensland, organised tours and food experiences for buyers and media from Greater China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, North America and the United Kingdom.
Australia Next Cairns comes as tourism officials in the country continue to revive the visitor economy following the pandemic slowdown that was marked by prolonged restrictions on outbound travel from China. Like Dreamtime, Australia Next was intended to be held every two years, but Tourism Australia decided to hold the event for a second year in a row to heighten the campaign to attract more incentive travel.
“It is great to be welcoming international business events planners and media back to Australia for the second consecutive year,” said Phillipa Harrison, Tourism Australia’s Managing Director.
“Our signature incentive showcase has traditionally been held every two years but we have brought it back again in 2024 to turbocharge efforts to build a strong pipeline of international business events,” Harrison said.
“We are already seeing international business events return to Australia, with the latest numbers from Tourism Research Australia showing they contributed A$4.6 billion to our visitor economy in the 12 months to March 2024.
“While that Total Trip Spend is above the levels we experienced in 2019, the number of visitors arriving in Australia for an international business event is at about 75 per cent of what we have seen in the past and we hope hosting Australia Next in Cairns in 2024 will help to drive the industry’s recovery and future growth,” she said.
Robin Mack, Tourism Australia’s Executive General Manager of Commercial and Business Events Australia, said locating the event to Tropical North Queensland was an opportunity to highlight Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef internationally.
Looking back… Immersed in Cairns & Great Barrier Reef
“Incentive planners from 10 key markets around the world will have the opportunity to experience firsthand the unique tourism experiences and world-class venues available in Cairns, and as a result generate further business leads for our industry,” Mack said.
“Last year our incentive showcase in Adelaide/Tarntanya generated 212 business leads across the country to date, worth A$192 million, so we know the event works and we can’t wait to see the business created from this year’s event in Cairns.”
Tourism Tropical North Queensland Chief Executive Mark Olsen said delegates would experience the region’s business events expertise, unique offsite events, and extraordinary World Heritage landscapes.
“We will be especially proud to showcase Tropical North Queensland’s sustainability story with delegates transported on Tropic Wing’s new electric buses and 280 trees purchased through Reforest to offset the event,” Olsen said.
“Hosting Australia Next in Cairns will help incentive buyers understand that the city’s business events infrastructure is just a 10-minute drive from Cairns Airport and their accommodation is within walking distance of the Cairns Convention Centre, restaurants and the marina.”
Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Patricia O’Callaghan added: “Australia Next supports bringing high-value incentive travellers to our state which will be key in growing our international overnight visitor expenditure to A$11 billion by 2032.
“We not only have world-class destinations but world-class facilities too and we are proud to be able to showcase Queensland as an ideal incentives travel destination in the lead-up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Callaghan said.
“Tourism and Events Queensland’s Business Events strategy sees us aiming to achieve 20 per cent of the Australian market share by 2027, a growth of 4 per cent which will bolster our international visitor numbers.”
