Sydney’s Shining Year and Vibrant 2025 Outlook for Business Events
Business Events Sydney (BESydney) has concluded 2024 on a high as the team celebrates securing over 30 events in the final half of the year worth an estimated direct expenditure (DE) of almost $100 million for Sydney. This cements a pipeline to 2030 of 76 events attracting 111,000 delegates, generating an estimated $451 million in DE. Of the 76 pipeline events, 31 will be held in 2025.
Many of the events in the last half of the year have been science and engineering, technology and health sector related. A sample of recent bid wins include:
- Asia-Pacific Hydrogen 2025 Summit & Exhibition over 3 days, with 900 delegates and an estimated DE $4.5 million
- Business Network International (BNI) Global Convention 2025, 2,500 delegates over five days with an estimated DE of $13.4 million
- IEEE Conference on Decision and Control 2028 attracting 1,500 delegates over five days bringing an estimated DE of $6.5 million
- Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology 2027 attracting 2,200 delegates over four days with an estimated DE of $7.7 million
- World Congress of Audiology 2030 over four days attracting 1,000 delegates and bringing an estimated DE of $5.9 million.
In addition to the positive forward pipeline of events, the Premier of NSW, the Hon Chris Minns MP, has advised his commitment as Patron of BESydney’s Global Ambassador program, recognising the impact business events have across the economy, represented by over 80 academic, business and industry leaders that volunteer their expertise to BESydney’s bidding armoury.
“As New South Wales’ economy changes and grows, BESydney plays a vital role in attracting top of their field investors, researchers, and workers by showcasing to them what everything our state has to offer” he said.
“New South Wales is a world class destination, we’ve got a massive economy, wonderful universities, a renowned public education system and so much more – the work of BESydney in promoting this to the global community is vital and our state is stronger for it.
“I’m proud to work with BESydney as we send a shared message that New South Wales and Sydney are open for business.”
BESydney CEO, Lyn Lewis-Smith said, “Sydney is a city on the threshold of major change as the government plans come to fruition. The Western Sydney International (WSI) Airport, Bradfield City and the surrounding Aerotropolis are a hub of city-changing development and the new infrastructure and
investment accompanying them will have significant influence on our industry sectors, particularly aerospace and defence, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, freight and logistics, agribusiness, education and research.
“And the transformation continues around the city’s famous Harbour, with the new Sydney Fish Markets a masterpiece in design, and the re-development around Darling Harbour and the International Convention Centre Sydney will be a game-changer for delegates to Sydney. We are seeing vibrant neighbourhoods come to life throughout the city through the work of the Office of the 24-Hour Economy Commissioner. We cannot wait to showcase Sydney shining ever more brightly on the global stage.”
2024 has been a year of significant accolades for the organisation strengthening its position globally, the most recent seeing Sydney break into the top 10 ranking on the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) 2024. In May Sydney confirmed its position as Australia’s number one business events host as the annual Meeting Destination Rankings by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) and the influential booking platform CVENT announced that Sydney had secured 25th place in the worldwide ICCA city rankings and ranked 6th (ICCA) and 3rd (CVENT) in the Asia Pacific region. In June Destinations International awarded BESydney the Destination Organization Leadership Award for Global impact recognising the company’s outstanding leadership in the travel and tourism industry.
Following the release of the NSW Visitor Economy Strategy Review summary and recommendations last month, the NSW Government announced its ambitious goal to grow the Visitor Economy into a $91 billion industry by 2035. Its response to the Review, the Visitor Economy Strategy 2035, will be released in the coming months and will outline their roadmap to achieve this goal.
BESydney looks forward to working with the NSW Government and our private sector partners and members to grow the business events contribution to the sector, starting with the government commitment to provide a $1.5 million increase in our funding coming into effect during the second half of FY25.
