Sydney has been named as the host for the Australian Physiotherapy Association’s (APA) national conference Physiotherapy 2023, taking BESydney’s bid wins for the city to 10 year to date, as the confidence to meet increases and businesses confirm their in-person meetings.
Whilst the global tourism market continues to navigate the impacts of COVID-19, BESydney has continued to secure events for the city, with these 10 events set to attract 14,450 delegates and generate an estimated $46m in direct expenditure to the NSW economy.
The national APA conference alone is expected to attract 1,800 delegates over three days in October 2023 at the ICC Sydney, with an estimated direct expenditure of $4.8 million.
NSW Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, Stuart Ayres said: “We’ve placed a strong focus on kickstarting the NSW business events sector and I’m pleased to see Sydney continue to perform on the local and global stage in securing these key meetings.”
BESydney CEO Lyn Lewis-Smith said this was a highly pleasing result and another indication of the increasing need and confidence to meet in-person: “We’re thrilled to see Sydney continuing to win business events both locally and overseas and business visitors’ growing confidence to choose Sydney for their next meeting.
“Business leaders know there is a need to bring their people back together in-person, to reconnect and collaborate, and we are really seeing the momentum in those meetings now being confirmed.”
BESydney currently has a total of 91 events with a combined estimated direct expenditure of $513m secured between 2021 and 2026 spanning health, financial services, and technology, with 70% of meetings impacted by COVID-19 postponed into future years, including the International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS), retained for Sydney to be held in 2023, bringing 1500 delegates and an estimated $5m in direct expenditure.
The latest bid wins follow BESydney’s ‘It’s got to be Sydney’ campaign launch late last year, which positions Sydney as the number one Australian destination for business visitors.
Ms. Lewis-Smith said: “In the current climate with borders closed for 14 months now, retaining 70% of Covid-impacted meetings is a testament to our client relationships and the trust and quality of our partner network. Every event that is postponed to a future date in Sydney instead of cancelling is a win for Sydney. Our local and international clients agree, it’s just got to be Sydney”.
“Sydney’s strong fundamentals as an iconic destination and centre for innovation and commerce make our city a popular choice year on year. We can’t wait to welcome more business visitors back here to connect people, knowledge and ideas and for business events to continue their role in the city and state’s economic recovery and growth,” said Ms. Lewis-Smith.
