Townsville makes a $million
About four hundred national and international delegates attending two conventions in Townsville this week are expected to spend $1 million, the most profitable conferences Townsville has seen.
Delegates attedning the five-day Ecotourism Australia International Conference, being held at the Southbank Hotel, attracting 300 delegates are estimated by Townsville Enterprise Convention Bureau’s Manager Dawn Combs to spend more than $900,000 and 100 members of the Australasian Society of Cardiovascular Perfusionists, who operate the heart-lung machines during heart surgery, met at the weekend for a convention at Jupiters Hotel and Casino.
Ms Combs said that a conservative figure of more than $4 million is estimated to be injected into the region through Townsville Convention Bureau bid wins this year, with eco tourism delegates also visiting Magnetic Island, Charters Towers and other ecotourism destinations.
The estimates include delegate expenditure on accommodation, shopping, transport, restaurants and cafes, domestic airfares, entertainment and tours and Townsville Enterprise Convention Bureau says that research shows most delegates will return to holiday to a place they have been for business, with the rest of the population will absolutely benefiting, with a spike in taxi fares and they will go to the mall to shop and visit pubs and restaurants.
Ms Combs said the Bureau had hosted five familiarisation tours to Townsville for potential groups of convention organisers and professional conference organisers, with Townsville Enterprise estimating international delegates spend about $637 a day, national delegates about $420, state delegates about $363, and regional delegates about $100 a day.
The Ecotourism Australia International Conference will bring expert speakers from the Asia Pacific region in a bid to tackle issues surrounding the ecotourism industry, including UNESCO’s director of the division of Ecological and Earth Sciences, Natarajan Ishwaran, India’s Ministry for Tourism joint secretary Amitabh Kant, Cambodia’s Tourism Minister and Australia’s Minister for Small Business and Tourism Fran Bailey in addition to State and local government representatives.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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