The ICCA Statistics Report for city and country rankings released overnight show Australia has moved up from 13th to 12th position with a total of 272 international association meetings held in 2019.

With business events in the short term largely postponed, convention bureaux are re-imagining their destinations and focusing on everything they can do to get global meetings and incentives back as soon as travel and gathering restrictions are lifted.

The Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) congratulates the Australian Government for extending support to the business events industry through a boost to the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) scheme.

The ambitious goal under the new program is to identify and proactively recruit up to 5,000 highly skilled migrants in selected industries to Australia each year, who will receive a fast-tracked process to permanent residency.

With the recent bushfires taking place in some parts of Australia, convention bureaux across the country stand ready to address business events queries and concerns.