STUART NETTLEFOLD Business Events Tasmania CEO Business Events Tasmania
Strong year for Tasmania’s business event sector
I am pleased to announce that 2016-17 was a busy year for Business Events Tasmania (BET) with 105 business events secured by BET taking place around the State. Looking at the overall figures as at 30 June 2017, business event activity resulted in over $113M* in direct spend to the Tasmanian economy. Importantly, around 80 per cent of this activity took place in the shoulder and off-peak periods, a bonus for our tourism and hospitality industries. In 2016-17 BET continued to strongly advocate the business events sector’s important contribution to Tasmania’s vital and fast- growing visitor economy. These events also benefit the State as major opportunities to promote Tasmania’s investment and trade credentials. During the year, BET transitioned to a new customer relationship management (CRM) system called Simpleview. The new CRM has enabled the organisation to work more efficiently with our members. It has also provided a superior platform to retrieve and analyse client, business event and stakeholder data. Looking forward, the new system will allow BET to better analyse available data and in turn, drive the organisation’s strategic decision making, resulting in improved sales and marketing processes. The switch to the new CRM system was complimented by the launch of BET’s new content management system (CMS) / new website – also a major project for the team. BET remained focused on attracting conferences up to 1,100 delegates that could potentially be held in Tasmania. We also continued to target regional Tasmania. Attracting more activity to Launceston and northern Tasmania is a priority and consequently we established a permanent Business Development Manager based in Launceston two years ago. I am pleased to say that the future business event demand for Tasmania is strong, with figures showing Tasmania holds high appeal as a business event destination. BET sourced 240 bids over the 12-month period and 105 bids were confirmed with a future estimated economic value of $46.1M. In addition to these bids, there were 22 referrals, resulting in a total of 127 business events worth an estimated $51.9M being secured for Tasmania. A major highlight from the year was the increase in profile and momentum of our Tasmanian Ambassador Program (TAP), with the Honourable Will Hodgman MP, Premier of Tasmania as patron. Through TAP, BET secured 18 strategic national and international conferences in partnership with our ambassadors and local hosts in
2016-17. These events have a total estimated future economic worth of $16.7M. Of these, three will be held in northern Tasmania with an estimated worth of $1.3M. We have seen a significant number of TAP conference wins this year, including the 2020 International Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (Hobart), the 22nd International Farm Management World Congress 2019 (Launceston) and the Asian Wave and Tidal Energy Conference 2020 (Hobart). At 30 June 2017, BET’s state-wide membership stood at 162 members and stakeholders. The support and collaboration we enjoy with our member base and stakeholders is fundamentally important. It allows BET to present Tasmania as the highly desirable business events destination that it is. As many of you may already know, I will be finishing with BET at the end of my third contract in April 2018. From an organisational point of view, I feel the time is right for a fresh perspective and I personally look forward to new challenges. With a clearly defined CEO succession plan in place, the Board is now working on a recruitment strategy for my replacement. Tasmania’s future in the business events sector is looking extremely positive - as a small state, we pack a big punch! With the ongoing support of major industry partners, stakeholders and members, I am positive Tasmania will continue to shine on both the national and international business events stage. *Figures derived from the Tasmanian Visitor Survey (TVS) and research conducted by Enterprise Marketing and Research Services (EMRS) on behalf of BET.
December 2017 www.australianhotels.asn.au
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