Meetings Industry: Surviving the Economic Crisis

Key meetings industry professionals are set to gather in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in order to focus on driving the value and importance of the meetings industry and to stimulate discussion on what industry stakeholders are doing to generate group business in the current challenging business environment.

At a series of business dinners, entitled 'Keep Meetings on the Move', Marriott Australia has organised distinguished speakers from tourism organisations, national airlines and the meeting and travel industry.

Speakers at the first event, to be held on Thursday 4th June at the Sydney Marriott Hotel include Jodi McKay, NSW Minister for Tourism; Linda Gaunt, Chief Executive of Meetings and Events Australia; Mike Cannon, Executive Director, of the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux; Jayson Westbury, Chief Executive of the Australian Federation of Travel Agents; Mathias Friess, General Manager Sales of Virgin Blue; Peter Brampton, General Manager, Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa and Avril Northridge, Regional Director, Global Sales South Asia, Marriott International Inc.

The event will also include a Video Link to John Willard 'Bill' Marriott Jr, Chairman and Chief Executive of Marriott International.

The meetings business is a multi-billion dollar industry for Australia (in 2004 it was reckoned to be worth $17.3 billion), but the slowdown in the economy has affected meetings and conference bookings both in Australia and internationally.

Mike Cannon of the AACB recently expressed his concerns about the pressure on Australia's meetings industry, stating "Australia has fallen further behind in the highly respected rankings produced by the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA), continuing the downward trend to now rank 14th as a business events destination."