Sydney continues to boost its enviable reputation as the first place in Australia to do business, topping the country’s results in the International Congress and Convention Association’s (ICCA) Country and City Rankings Report.
The harbour city ranked number one in Australia for conferences and congresses and number 24 worldwide, a rise of ten places from last year. Sydney was also ranked sixth in the Asia-Pacific region, with the number of meetings held in the city rising from 57 in 2011 to 86 in 2012.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade & Investment Andrew Stoner said, “Sydney is an outstanding location for international business events and the NSW Government is determined to build on this strong reputation”.
“We are getting on with the job of building Australia’s largest fully integrated convention, exhibition and entertainment facilities in Darling Harbour, a development that will cement Sydney’s status as Australia’s number one business events destination.
“This redevelopment represents a major investment in the state economy and is set to generate about $5 billion in economic benefit for NSW over 25 years, create 3,700 jobs during construction and provide ongoing employment for 4,000 people across the precinct.
“When finished, the new facilities enhance Sydney’s global reputation as a host for business events and will woo more business delegates to Sydney, who on average spend six times more than other tourists.
Since March 2011, BESydney has delivered 162 events, attracting an estimated 104,473 delegates and generating an estimated $375m in economic impact to the state.
BESydney CEO Lyn Lewis-Smith said the ICCA results were testament to the value that the entire city places on securing business events.
These great ICCA results come just one week after BESydney was awarded top honours at the Meetings and Events Association (MEA) national conference in Darwin, winning the national award for Metropolitan Destination Marketing Organisation.
