Release date: 01/06/23

The South Australian visitor economy benefitted from an influx of major business events last month, with Adelaide Convention Centre delivering its biggest month since the onset of the pandemic.

The Adelaide Convention Centre is now on track to achieve its most successful year on record in 2022/2023.

Across May, the Centre delivered an impressive 77 events, including 15 major conferences and exhibitions, bringing more than 7,800 interstate and international visitors to Adelaide.

The month kicked off with more than 1,100 medical professionals descending on Adelaide Convention Centre for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons 91st Annual Scientific Congress. Later in May, the Centre played host to AusMedtech 2023 (350 delegates), along with the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine 53rd Scientific Meeting (600 delegates), both of which further reinforced Adelaide’s reputation as a global medical conference capital.

Additional events of significance that were held at Adelaide Convention Centre last month included:

*15th Australian Space Forum,1000+ delegates
*AustMine23 (mining), 1,400 delegates
*APPEA 2023 Conference & Exhibition (energy), 2,000 delegates
*Planning Institute of Australia Congress 2023, 500 delegates.
The Australian Veterinary Association Annual Conference 2023 (700 delegates) – one of our country’s largest gatherings of veterinary professionals – is currently underway and due to wrap up tomorrow (2 June).

The forecast for June remains equally positive, with a string of additional high-profile business events to round out the financial year, including:

*Hort Connections – Australia and New Zealand’s largest horticulture conference and trade show – 5 – 7 June, 3,000 delegates
*Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) 2023 Annual Meeting, 24 – 28 June, 800 delegates
*Cancer Nurses Society of Australia (CNSA) Annual Congress 2023, 14 – 16 June, 600 delegates.

Adelaide Convention Centre works in close partnership with peak industry body, Business Events Adelaide, to attract major national and international business events to South Australia.


Quotes

Attributable to Zoe Bettison

The incredible roster of events held during May not only demonstrates that the business events industry is well and truly back, but also the heightened appeal of Adelaide as one of the world’s leading business events destinations.

We’ve long known the appeal of Adelaide as a vibrant and innovative events destination, but that reputation is increasingly being recognised by leading business event organisers from across Australia and overseas, as reflected in the all-time high number of business events held in Adelaide last month.

The 15 major conferences and exhibitions held at Adelaide Convention Centre in May generated more than 43,000 bed nights for local hotels and injected more than $47 million in economic benefit into the state.

It’s fantastic to also see these events align so closely with our state’ s priority sectors, which provides exciting opportunities for additional economic, professional and social legacies for industry and the community at large, which extends well beyond these events.

Quotes attributable to Martin Radcliffe, General Manager, Adelaide Convention Centre

The Centre’s strong May performance contributes to what is set to be Adelaide Convention Centre’s best year yet, with the Centre on track to return record economic benefit to South Australia.

We have been operating at near capacity throughout 2022/23, with forward bookings indicating another outstanding result in 2023/24. As another great signal that the business events industry is back, we are employing the highest number of staff since the onset of the pandemic.

Our strong rebound and record forecast can be attributed not only to our success in retaining and rescheduling business event bookings throughout the pandemic, but also the increasing appeal of both the Centre and our destination.  

Our clients are highly motivated by our credentials relating to sustainability, cuisine, wellness and technology, along with our city’s new infrastructure, and it is really pleasing that they are telling us that we continue to overdeliver in each of these areas.

Attributable to Damien Kitto, CEO Business Events Adelaide

Adelaide can win the right to host such business events because South Australia is seen as a can-do economy with fast developing future-economy business districts from biomed to Space to Agtech and AI. We also have high quality accommodation and venues all within an easy to move through capital city.

We are strategic in the business events we target to bid for always keenly aware that both the delegates and the economy benefit. We are strongly supported by the State Government for this reason.