As this year’s Dreamtime 2023 attendees gathered for dinner at the iconic Penfolds winery just outside Adelaide, Australia’s city center, Tourism Australia’s Executive General Manager of Commercial & Business Events Australia Robin Mack took to the stage with an exciting announcement.
Business Events Australia’s signature incentive showcase, formerly known as Dreamtime and typically held every two years, will return in September 2024 in tropical North Queensland under the new name Australia Next, in alignment with Business Events Australia’s bespoke magazine for incentive planners.
“The return of Dreamtime in Adelaide this year and Australia Next in the future will help the business events industry to once again attract more than a million visitors a year to our country, contributing AUD4.5 billion [nearly $3 billion],” Mack said in a press release highlighting the announcement. The number represents the amount the events industry in general contributes to the Australia economy.
The 2017 Dreamtime event, held in Brisbane, generated 200 business leads, of which 73 converted into business worth $50 million. And even with the disruption of the Australian bushfires and the pandemic, Dreamtime 2019 in Perth generated 36 business leads in just three months, worth $97 million.
“We thank our host partner Business Events Adelaide for making sure the first Dreamtime in four years was one to remember and we look forward to working with Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef to make Australia Next in 2024 just as memorable,” Mack continued.
Next year’s showcase, set to be held in Cairns, further emphasizes Australia’s continued efforts to rebuild a strong pipeline of international business events following Dreamtime’s four-year pandemic hiatus.
“After having the event on hold for four years we are so pleased Dreamtime has returned in 2023, giving us the opportunity to welcome international business events planners and media back to Australia,” said Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison in the press release.
Harrison also said that in attempt to help fast track the Australian business events industry’s recovery, international incentive planners will be hosted in Australia in consecutive years, with the showcase returning every two years after 2025.
“The event in Adelaide, and the program of familiarizations around the country, have provided the visiting qualified buyers and media the chance to see first-hand some of the new product which has come online over the past few years,” Harrison said. “We know there is so much more for the international buyers to see around the country, so it is great our signature business events showcase will return once again in 2024 with Australia Next to be held in Cairns.”
To learn more about Australia Next, visit https://businessevents.australia.com/en.
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