BUSINESS EVENTS TASMANIA
Marnie Craig - CEO
Despite the ongoing challenges that COVID-19 presents the tourism, hospitality and events sector through continued border uncertainty and density limits, Business Events Tasmania has seen some positive signs amongst the difficulties of the first quarter of 2021. Bidding activity has been reasonably consistent with our sales team working on multiple new bids each week. We have won new business events to be held in Tasmania across the remainder of 2021 and into 2022, and we continue to work with the Department of State Growth to use the Business Events Attraction Fund to aggressively and strategically pursue emerging opportunities to secure the state’s long-term business events pipeline. Our first major conference to be held since the pandemic recently received final COVID Safe approval from the Department of Public Health, and Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart looks forward to welcoming delegates for the Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Annual Congress next month. Held across 16-20 May 2021, around 800 delegates will attend in person, with virtual registrations also offered due to high demand – a positive sign that confidence in interstate travel is growing and Australians are ready to come together and conference once again. Seeing Tasmania’s first major event since COVID-19 will represent an exciting milestone for our organisation and the business events industry. The resumption of business events will also give a further injection of stimulus for the recovery of Tasmania’s visitor economy more broadly. It has been pleasing to see most event organisers going to great lengths to promote Tasmania
as a destination for pre and post conference touring, further extending the economic benefit of business events across all facets of the sector and into retail. The recent announcement that PCOA21 will be held in Hobart is an additional boost for Tasmania’s tourism and hospitality industry. Showcasing Tasmania’s conferencing and business event capabilities to around 450 industry professionals, the Business Events Tasmania team see this as a great opportunity to provide an authentic Tasmanian experience to a large number of PCOs, in-house event planners andmeeting industry professionals. We are confident this will leave a lasting impression, and PCOA21 will complement our comprehensive famil program kicking off next month, with a number of famils to be held across the state throughout the remainder of the year. Finally, Business Events Tasmania has been working with Department of State Growth and Public Health in relation to a business events framework and the easing of restrictions. Through engaging with our members and the industrymore broadlywe understand the often daily challenges our current operating environment poses, and we have been liaising with our members andgovernment to try andfindmore practical solutions for some of these problems. Although we have a long way to go in our recovery, these first steps out of the pandemic offer promising signs thatwerealmost unimaginable just twelvemonths ago. I look forward to providing further updates to THA members on the sales and marketing activity of Business Events Tasmania as the remainder of the year unfolds.
THA HOSPITALITY—REVIEW: APRIL 2021 | 32
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