Gold Coast wins bid for major event in 2022

The conference will welcome 1200 delegates to the Gold Coast, including 500 international attendees.

SOME life is creeping back into the Gold Coast tourism industry, with the city winning a bid to book a major convention for 2022.

The International Society for Eye Research (ISER) has chosen the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) as the location of their Biennial Meeting, which is likely to bring in millions for the local economy.

The conference will welcome 1200 delegates to the Gold Coast, including 500 international attendees. These visitors will generate 3,800 visitor nights, worth $2.4 million to the state’s economy.

The GCCEC International team worked closely with Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ), Destination Gold Coast and Tourism Australia (TA) to secure the meeting to Australia’s popular business event destination.

The win reconfirms the appeal of the Gold Coast for scientific, medical and research-

based meetings according to the team behind the deal.

Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said similar events would be

crucial for the ongoing recovery of Australia’s tourism industry and the broader economy.

“This is a great win for the Gold Coast, securing events such as this will inject much needed revenue back into local economies and help provide a boost for businesses,” said Minister Birmingham.

“The long lead time involved in securing these large scale conferences means that now is the time to remind global event decision makers to continue to look to Australia as their choice destination in the years to come.”

State Development, Tourism and Innovation Minister Kate Jones. Picture: Tertius Pickard.

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State Development, Tourism and Innovation Minister Kate Jones said business events were an important component of the state’s tourism strategy.

“Queensland’s tourism industry is enduring an incredibly difficult time at the moment and while our focus is on the here and now, we must also keep an eye on the future and continue to secure events that will support our economy,” Ms Jones said.

Destination Gold Coast CEO Annaliese Battista said the decision was a testament to the Gold Coast’s enviable appeal as a global conferencing and events destination.

“At a time of unprecedented challenges for the global business events sector, the Gold Coast

continues to offer decision-makers certainty as a future host city for world-class international

conferences, beyond COVID-19,” Ms Battista said.

“Conferences enrich our city through direct economic contribution to the business events and tourism industry, and we are delighted to have partnered with GCCEC and key stakeholders to achieve the outcome of this bid.”