BUSINESS EVENTS TAS
Business Events Tas Marnie Graig
Despite the ongoing challenges Omicron brings to Tasmania’s hospitality and tourism sector, it has been an incredibly busy start to the year for Business Events Tasmania. March heralded an extremely positive milestone in the recovery of Tasmania’s business events sector, with 10 business events taking place across the state, representing an estimated economic impact of $6,855,140 in one month alone. Importantly, this included Launceston’s first major conference since the onset of the global pandemic, with the Australian Industrial Hemp Conference bringing together a hive of keynote speakers and industry experts from across the globe to Country Club Tasmania. Further events for Launceston are scheduled for the remainder of the year, with the Endocrine Society of Australia Annual Seminar 2022 next up, taking place later this month. Hobart played host to nine events across both Association and Corporate and Incentive markets in March in what was also the busiest month for the city since the onset of Covid. The remainder of Tasmania’s 2022 business event calendar features multiple conferences and events each month all the way up until December. Despite the postponement of PCOA to December 2022, wewere able to proceedwith the associated familactivitywehadplannedtorunsimultaneously to that conference, with the sales team hosting a number of interstate famil attendees across the state at the end of January. Taking in the north, south and east coast regions, this was the second famil BET has run under the grant we received in 2021 from the Federal Government’s Recovery for Regional Tourism Program. We know that famil activity is one of the most effective ways to convert new business for the state, and the sales team has already identified 60 pieces of business in our sales pipeline at varying stages of the bidding process that relate directly to the two famil groups we have hosted, with events with an EEI of around $5M already won and locked in.
Currently our sales pipeline is looking strong with 80 events won with an EEI of just under $73M. We anticipate that this figure will grow significantly over the next six to eight months as markets continue to stabilise and enquiries relating to the high yielding Corporate and Incentive market which typically has shorter lead times, continue to rise. Securing these events isn’t just a win for business event operators, but a win for hospitality and tourismacross the board. We know that delegates typically travel with family and friends and are keen to take up pre and post event touring opportunities to maximise their time in the state, sampling our award winning wine and spirits and enjoying our local restaurants, cafes and bars, to name a few. With a positive foundation laid for the remainder of 2022, my team and I look forward to engaging widely with our local operators to capitalise on Tasmania’s appeal as a clean and safe business events destination, as this sector of our industry finally fires up once again.
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Hospitality Review: April 2022
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