The Victoria Tourism Industry Council is calling for the next State Government to commit a further two-years of funding for Business Events Victoria (BEV) to capitalise on the true economic potential of business events in regional Victoria and secure the future effectiveness of this important industry body.
BEV is Victoria's only dedicated body for attracting business events to regional Victoria. The New South Wales Government has just announced a $500,000 Regional Business Events Development Fund to attract more business events in rural and regional areas. VTIC is calling on both major parties to unlock the true potential for regional Victoria with a long-term investment view.
Victoria Tourism Industry Council Chief Executive Felicia Mariani said, "Victoria is currently experiencing record growth in terms of both domestic and international visitors and there is no better time for us to act strategically in planning for the success of regional Victoria."
"Business Events are the highest yielding sector of the visitor economy and a strong pipeline of events in regional Victoria are beneficial for communities and tourism businesses in that they positively impact trade in off-peak and mid-week periods. However, both national and global competition for business events is fierce and Victoria needs to be well-resourced to compete.
As other States accelerate their efforts, the next Victorian Government must invest in BEV over the long term so it can attract events to regional Victoria ahead of its competition" she said.
Business Events Victoria Executive Officer Chris Porter said, "The Business Events sector is worth an estimated $475 million to the Victorian economy and supports over 3000 regional jobs annually."
"BEV has recently launched its Strategic Plan, outlining its vision to help deliver a strong pipeline of business events to regional Victoria. We were delighted that State Government funded BEV for the next two years in its 2018/19 Budget hand-down.
A regional Victoria with a strong reputation for delivering business events ticks so many boxes including economic growth, regional employment, industry development and decentralisation. The case for investment is clear and we are confident that long-term funding will help us to deliver many important benefits for all of Victoria" he said.
