There was a lot of celebration in business circles when the Australian government announced a commitment to support the revival of business events. As an industry, business events contribute $36 billion to the Australian economy and support 230,000 jobs.
After the government’s quick reaction to COVID, Australia lead the world in whet it calls a “measured approach” to reintroducing in-person events. This was seen most visibly in Melbourne with the Australian Open which saw the return of smaller crowds this week.
The government Event Here This Year Campaign was greeted with enthusiasm by some Australian business owners while others were unaware of it.
The government announced a $50m grant for business events on Queensland’s Gold Coast, a welcome promotion for the region that depends heavily of travel and tourist dollars.
Entrepreneur Uses Online Business Events
Entrepreneurs like Brisbane-based Business Strategist and Keynote Speaker Ryll Burgin-Doyle held in-person events before the government COVID response but many have now changed over to online and virtual events. Some other businesses have not been able to do the same while some have closed altogether, perhaps never to return.
She built and exited her first business in her early twenties, has been a CEO of a $100M business and worked as a key brand strategist for huge multinational corporations in the dot com, financial services, biotech and manufacturing sectors increasing sales and profits by 300%. Ryll has literally worked with and grown every kind of business imaginable from start-up to exit.
Burgin-Doyle was recognized twice by Telstra for excellence in business as a Telstra Business Woman of the Year Finalist. In addition, she was a Smart Company Top 50 Female Entrepreneur. Most recently Ryll has been featured in both Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global and Entrepreneur.com.
Minister Announcement
The new minister for trade, tourism and investment, Dan Tehan, confirmed the Government’s commitment to the event industry and recently spoke about the Business Events Grants Programme rollout.
After the minister’s announcement and a media release, the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) said, “We encourage all business events businesses, whether owners, delegates or exhibitors to engage with the programme to ensure we can get the maximum revenue flowing through the entire supply chain as soon as possible.”
The government media release noted that the Gold Coast, one of Australia’s premier convention destinations was “now open for business.” Clearly, the government was moved by the fact that the business events industry supports around 230,000 Australian jobs and adds A$36bn to the Australian economy.
Australian advertising agency, Business Bravery, notes that Pre-Covid, the Gold Coast business events sector contributed A$570m to the economy, attracting event attendees from all over Australia and the world.