TWO MONTHS after Australia opened its borders, research shows a strong outlook for business events with high hopes for the new Business Events Australia global brand campaign as the country fast tracks its recovery from the Covid slowdown.
The 2022 Business Events Consumer Demand Project (CDP), conducted by Tourism Australia’s specialist business events unit, delivers insights on what is influencing the choice of a destination for events, including how Australia is perceived.
Robin Mack, Tourism Australia’s executive general manager of commercial and business events, said the research showed that decision makers felt increasingly confident with travelling and running events abroad. Many expected the number, size, and budget for events to be equal to, or greater than pre-pandemic levels, he said.
It’s fantastic to see that decision makers remain optimistic about the future of events and that there is a strong intention to visit Australia for an event over the next two years – Robin Mack
The research surveyed 159 association decision makers from three of Australia’s key markets and 399 corporate decision makers from nine key markets from May to June 2022.
“Amongst incentive decision makers, Australia is the global leader in consideration, and we have experienced significant increases in appeal and intent over the last 12 months. For association decision makers, Australia is considered an appealing destination with several positive attributes, including being ranked No.1 in the world for our quality of business events facilities.
More… Welcoming the world back to Australia
“Throughout the pandemic we have worked hard to maintain Australia’s presence internationally and optimally position Australia as a business events destination for reopening. The research confirms our strategy to invest in marketing during the pandemic has worked and we anticipate Australia’s business events industry will benefit as a result,” he said.
Mack said the results confirmed a strong performance of the new Business Events Australia brand campaign to capitalise on the reopening momentum and position Australia as a global leader in business events.
After only two months in market, over one in two target customers recall seeing the advertising and 87 per cent of those stating they had already taken positive steps in relation to planning a business event in Australia as a result of the campaign.
“Amongst decision makers in the incentive sector, 92 per cent of decision makers found the campaign appealing and 90 per cent said the campaign increased their likelihood of holding an incentive event in Australia; while for the association sector, 86 per cent of decision makers found the campaign appealing and 80 per cent said the campaign increased their likelihood of holding an association event in Australia.
“The creative strategy is designed to be highly unique and speak to distinct drivers of each sector, and this research confirms the approach is successful in achieving cut through and driving demand across both incentive and association sectors,” Mack said.
