Sydney is again Australia’s number one business event destination according to the latest International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Country and City Rankings report.

Released recently, the results place Sydney at #1 in Australia and #10 in the Asia Pacific.

Lyn Lewis-Smith, CEO of Business Events Sydney (BESydney), said, “We’re thrilled to remain #1 in Australia.

In calendar year 2016, Sydney delivered 61 international association meetings, driven through the strength of collaboration between BESydney, the New South Wales (NSW) Government including Destination NSW, universities, research institutes, associations, business and tourism, hospitality and retail industries.”

“With no purpose-built convention centre for the past three years, BESydney also deliberately adjusted its strategy to drive short lead Asian incentive business to the city. On top of the 61 international association meetings that contribute to the ICCA ranking, in 2016 the city also hosted 48 Asian incentive events, attracting over 21,000 delegates and worth $96.4m.”

“Business from the Asian incentive market has grown 20 per cent year on year for the past five years and has been an important economic contributor during the three-year construction of the new convention centre.

“We continue to see strong numbers from the region. Year to date, BESydney has secured 23 incentives that will see over 8,000 visit NSW, delivering over $40 million to the state’s economy. We have also seen the number of events from India double in the past 12 months.”

“The opening of the new International Convention Centre Sydney is the start of a new era for Sydney.

ALTHOUGH, it comes as the same ranking puts Melbourne on top as the best city in Australia for delegate attendance, attracting the highest number of attendees to international association meetings held in Melbourne.

The Country and City Ranking Report, produced by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), saw Melbourne ranked number one in Australia.

The result also places Melbourne at 22 in the world for delegate attendance, 43 places ahead of Sydney, Melbourne’s closest Australian competitor.

With international delegates staying an average six nights in Melbourne, which is typically an additional one night on top of the conference, the far-reaching impacts for the visitor economy is significant with hotels, restaurants, function venues, catering, attractions and event suppliers, benefitting from the influx of international visitors.

Melbourne also rose five places for number of meetings held from the previous year, now placing the city at 44 in the world, and 11 in the Asia-Pacific region.

ICCA rankings apply to international association meetings with 50 or more participants, take place on a regular basis and rotate between a minimum of three countries.

Karen Bolinger, Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) CEO said the results are a positive achievement for Melbourne and the visitor economy.

“MCB works hard to secure the right events for the city, with an emphasis on quality over quantity. We strategically target events that are going to have the greatest benefit to the client and the city, whether that be legacy outcomes, trade and investment opportunities and importantly strong delegate attendance.,” she said.

“Our current delegate materialisation year to date is 110 per cent, which means we get 10 per cent more delegates coming to conferences we secure than we estimate.

“Delegates are attracted to Melbourne for various reasons, primarily the large pool of local intellectual capital that they can benefit from, as well the overall appeal of the city.”

Melbourne hosted 58 meetings and 39,000 delegates during the qualifying period, including the 23^rd World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems 2016, which was the largest international association conference held in Australia in 2016, attracting over 11,000 delegates.

Meanwhile, Sydney’s future business event pipeline remains strong with 130 events secured to take place between now and 2023. These will attract over 130,000 delegates who will spend close to 590,000 days here, and contributing some $460 million to the economy.