Australian Business Events Association achieves 100% growth in its first year

At the conclusion of its first year of operation, the Australian Business Events Association (ABEA) - the unified voice for the business events industry - is celebrating a landmark achievement.

ABEA reported a 100% increase in organisational membership and heading towards an impressive 100% renewal rate from financial year 23-24, signifying its critical role and positive impact on the industry.   

ABEA was founded to create a single, cohesive body representing the diverse and dynamic business events sector. The success of the initiative is now evident through its rapidly growing membership base and the support of the membership.

In just one year, ABEA has doubled its membership, attracting a wide array of industry stakeholders, including business destinations and bureaux, organisers, venues and suppliers. The commitment of the founding members to renew their memberships highlights the association's value in delivering essential support, advocacy, and resources to its members.   

Melissa Brown, Chief Executive of Australian Business Events Association said the ‘ABEA experiment’ has well and truly shown its worth and advised “the success of ABEA is felt most keenly by members. That our members are renewing for their second year is a testament to the collective effort of the whole community.

“Our focus on delivering tangible benefits, fostering connections, and driving industry representation has clearly resonated. There is certainly much more to be done however we look forward to building on this success and further strengthening our industry."

Lynn Lewis-Smith, Chief Executive of Business Events Sydney and ABEA Platinum Member, said her team’s commitment to being part of the ABEA community is essential to their work adding “BESydney has been a longtime advocate of a single voice to government to champion our sector. Collaboration is the key to unlocking our industry’s full potential. Our ABEA membership amplifies our impact, gives us a seat at the table, and empowers us all to achieve more together than we could alone.”

Ashley Gabriel, Director of Sales and Marketing, Novatech Creative Event Technology has renewed their membership with ABEA and shared “we initially joined ABEA to ensure South Australia had a voice within the new organisation as we believe it is vital the South Australian perspective is conveyed in all lobbying, decision making and strategic direction for the industry.

“We enjoy all of the opportunities ABEA provides to connect with other like-minded businesses, share best practices, provide professional development for our staff and contributing to the future direction of our fabulous industry.”

Building on this solid foundation, ABEA will continue to evolve its offering and will host its inaugural conference and awards on 10th – 11th December 2024 in Sydney.  

The Australian Business Events Association Ltd (ABEA) is the leading industry body responsible for representing and supporting the prosperity of the organisations and people that work in, or benefit from the Australian Business Events Sector.  

ABEA represents the unified ambitions of the Australian business events industry and its people.