PERFORMANCE MONITORS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS EVENTS INDUSTRY. Last updated by E Rich, June 2011

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1 PERFORMANCE MONITORS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS EVENTS INDUSTRY Last updated by E Rich, June 2011 BECA has prepared the following information on the Australian business events industry from existing available information sources as an aid to the industry. Wherever possible, BECA recommends that Australia s performance be judged in terms of comparable market share, since it is recognised that relying on raw figures will not pick up on external factors such as economic conditions, global pandemics, and the like. The Council realises that there is a paucity of global and domestic information on the business events market, particularly in some sectors such as corporate meetings and incentives. However, a range of regular information is available and, by using a basket of sources, it is possible to glean an overview of the BE market. It is intended this report be updated twice per year for the benefit of the Australian BE industry. Additional research is underway which will hopefully add to the basket of information available, and reference is made to research projects expected to come online. BECA also draws readers attention to the online availability of other global industry reports and surveys. A number of these are listed under the research section of the BECA website. BECA Updated Paper, June

2 1. International Convention and Congress Association (ICCA, ICCA has been monitoring and analysing trends in international association meetings for the past 30 years. It publishes an annual country and city ranking, in addition to detailed information such as number of participants, size of meetings. It is regarded as a credible source of information on the international associations meetings market, and is used by many destinations to track performance. ICCA draws on its large association database on meetings that are organised on a regular basis, attract at least 50 participants and rotate between 3 different countries. The following two charts are based on the 2010 figures, released in May More detailed information relating to the number of participants had not been released at time of printing, so charts based on the 2009 participant figures are provided below. Based on number of meetings ICCA: Movements in Worldwide Rankings Australia ( ) Year Australia in top 10 Ranking Australia out of top 10 BECA Updated Paper, June

3 Australia Competitive ICCA Ranking in the Asia Pacific Based on number of meetings Ranking Australia Australia Australia Japan Japan Japan Japan 2 Japan Japan Japan China PR China PR China PR China PR 3 China PR China PR China PR Australia Australia Korea Australia 4 Singapore Singapore Singapore Korea Korea Australia Korea 25% ICCA: Worldwide Estimated Participant Numbers Average Annual Growth % 15% 10% 20.9% 5% 0% 7.0% 7.5% 8.8% 7.5% 5.5% 3.0% Australia 1. USA 2. Germany 3. Italy 4. Spain 5. France WORLD BECA Updated Paper, June

4 90% ICCA: Asia Pacific Region Estimated Participant Numbers Average Annual Growth % 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 53.2% 79.1% 10% 0% 12.9% 20.0% 10.4% 19.5% 3.0% 7.3% 5.5% 8.9% Australia China Singapore Korea Japan Thailand Indonesia Malaysia WORLD ASIA/& ME BECA Updated Paper, June

5 2. Australian Bureau of Statistics Overseas Arrivals and Departures (ABS OAD) Each month the ABS releases its OAD figures (generally within 5 weeks of collection period. They are freely available on its website.) One of the standard statistical reports has a convention category under purpose of visit. Crossreferenced reports (eg purpose of visit/country of origin) drill down for more detailed results. It is generally accepted that these OAD figures on primary reason for travel do not pick up all convention arrivals, some of which would fall under business travellers and leisure visitors. They also do not capture visitors attending exhibitions or participating in incentive travel, or those who may have visited Australia for another reason and attended a convention as a secondary reason. The IVS attempt to pick up these figures (see Point 5 this report). However, as a trend indicator the figures do provide a basis for comparison and reflect the overall strength of the sector. The following shows graphs are based on data from ABS OAD inbound and outbound visitors indicating conventions as the stated reason for travel. BECA Updated Paper, June

6 250,000 ABS Convention Inbound and Outbound Visitors ( ) 200, , ,000 Conv. Inbound (ABS) Conv. Outbound (ABS) 50, Convention / Conference Arrivals to Australia Monthly Comparison Thousands Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Month Note: unusually high July08 result believed to be attributable to World Youth Day While the 2010 OAD figures show a definite bounce-back on the 2009 drop (GFC effect), the calendar year 2010 figures did not yet reached the previous inbound convention figures for the same periods in 2007 and Early indications from the 2011 monthly figures show an improvement on 2010 in March. BECA Updated Paper, June

7 Year Visitor Arrivals Convention/ conference Jan-Dec ,600 Jan-Dec ,600 Jan-Dec ,500 Jan-Dec ,500 BECA Updated Paper, June

8 Tourism Australia s Business Events unit (BEA) provides regular statistical reports on its website drawing on the ABS figures. Excerpts from the most recent report follow: Conference or Convention arrivals to Australia March 2011 update Highlights The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publishes short-term international arrivals to Australia on a monthly basis. The data is collected from passenger cards that international visitors complete when they enter Australia. These cards request information including purpose of visit, demographics and trip details. The following analysis focuses on international arrivals whose main purpose of visit was to attend a conference and convention in Australia. There were 176,600 convention or conference arrivals during the year ended 31 March 2011, an increase of 19 per cent year-on- year. Similarly, overall business arrivals increased 14 per cent yearon-year to 853,100, while total arrivals to Australia increased 4 per cent to 5.9 million. Refer to Table 1. There were 36,300 convention or conference arrivals during the three months ended 31 March 2011, an increase of 9 per cent year-on-year. Similarly, overall business arrivals increased 10 per cent yearon-year, while total arrivals to Australia were unchanged. Refer to Table 1. There were 16,400 convention or conference arrivals during March 2011, an increase of 24 per cent year-on-year. Similarly, overall business arrivals increased 9 per cent year-on-year, while total arrivals to Australia decreased 5 per cent. BECA Updated Paper, June

9 BECA Updated Paper, June

10 BECA Updated Paper, June

11 3. Tourism Research Australia (TRA) International Vistors Survey (IVS) and National Visitors Survey (NVS) Background: Following requests from the BE industry and Tourism Australia, TRA agreed to extend both its IVS and NVS in 2008 to include supplementary questions specifically dealing with the business events traveller. Additional questions for the BE traveller covered primary and other reasons for travel, type of event, number of days, and delegate expenditure. As mentioned earlier in this report, it has been shown from previous IVS figures that the surveys capture additional BE travellers to those counted in the OAD figures. This is because the IVS is able to pick up those BE travellers who may have ticked holiday or business (or another) reason for travel on their arrival cards. Secondary reasons for travel are also captured, whereas OAD cards only pick up a single reason for entry. In the case of NVS, there is no other regular capturing of domestic business event travellers. However, although the surveys pick up both BE domestic overnight and BE domestic day travellers, it should be noted that the surveys only pick up BE domestic day travellers if they have travelled more than 50ks to an event of minimum 4 hours. Therefore, the considerable market from local BE participants is not captured. The supplementary questions for both NVS and IVS commenced in the first quarter 2008 and continued into 2009 and The 2008 data from the supplementary questions was released in a detailed TRA report on business events in October 2009: Business Events in Australia: Results from the International Visitors Survey and the National Visitor Survey for The full report, executive summary, and user guide are available for download from the TRA website. Data from 2009 and the first half of 2010 was released in December More recently the results for the calendar year 2010 were released (see below). The publication of this valuable data is welcomed by the industry. The supplementary data has provided, for the first time, included data on the incentive traveller, both international and domestic. BECA worked with TRA on certain aspects of the data and adjustments were made in the December 2010 report. The supplementary BE questions were cutback in 2011, but a number of key questions were retained so as to provide a valuable time series of results. The retention of a minimum core supplementary BE questions in both IVS and NVS will reveal trends from the data over a longer time frame. This TRA work provides an important additional data source for the Australian business events sector. BECA Updated Paper, June

12 LATEST RELEASE OF TRA BUSINESS EVENTS DATA: A snapshot of the 2010 calendar year results was released by Tourism Research Australia early June TRA data showed the BE visitor spending in Australia worth around $8.4 billion in To quote from the Government website: Since the March quarter 2008, information on BE visitor travel have been collated from TRA survey supplementary questions. This snapshot is the third BE report based on these surveys, showing that the sector made a partial recovery in 2010 but remains below the pre-gfc levels of 2008 for many indicators. The report can be downloaded here Business Events Visitors: 2010 PDF, 268KB BECA Updated Paper, June

13 4. Union of International Associations (UIA, UIA is a research institute and documentation centre, based in Brussels, founded in Non-profit, apolitical, independent, and non-governmental in nature, the UIA has been a pioneer in the research, monitoring and provision of information on international organizations, international associations and their global challenges since For more than 50 years, the Union of International Associations has undertaken statistical studies on the preceding year's international meetings. It produces an annual International Meetings Statistics Report, focused on the NFP organisations/associations sector. There are variations with the ICCA report because of differences in criteria and methodologies. What meeting are counted in the report? Meeting counted under the heading "Meetings of International Organizations" (Type A) are: - meeting organized of sponsored by "international organizations" - with at least 50 participants, or number of participants unknown Note: Indications of "internationality" include distribution of board members, location of meetings, rotation of secretariats, source of finance, and membership. Meeting counted under the heading "Other international meetings" (Type B) are: - meeting not organized or sponsored by "international organizations" but nonetheless of significant international character, notably those organized by national organizations and national branches of international organizations - at least 40 percent of the participants are from countries other than the host country and at least 5 nationalities are represented - lasting at least 3 days, or of unknown duration - with either a concurrent exhibition or at least 300 participants Meeting counted under the heading "Other international meetings" (Type C) are: - meeting not organized or sponsored by "international organizations" but nonetheless of significant international character, notably those organized by national organizations and national branches of international organizations - at least 40 percent of the participants are from countries other than the host country and at least 5 nationalities are represented BECA Updated Paper, June

14 - lasting at least 2 days, or of unknown duration - with either a concurrent exhibition or at least 250 participants The following provides comparison data taken from the latest UIA report (2009 figures released June 2010). UIA: Movements In Rankings Australia ( ) Year Australia in top 10 Ranking Australia out of top 10 UIA International Rankings Top Asia Pacific Cities Ranking China, HK & Macau China, HK & Macau 2 Australia Australia = Singapore Singapore Singapore Singapore China, HK & Macau Japan Japan Japan 3 Japan Korea Australia 1 Australia = Korea Korea 4 Korea Singapore Korea Korea Australia 1 Australia = BECA Updated Paper, June

15 Based on UIA Type A meetings UIA: Worldwide Movements in Market Share ( ) 7.0% 6.0% 5.0% 4.0% 3.0% Australia China Singapore Korea Japan 2.0% 1.0% 0.0% BECA Updated Paper, June

16 UIA: Worldwide Movements in Market Share ( ) 7.0% 6.0% 5.0% 4.0% 3.0% Australia China Singapore Korea Japan 2.0% 1.0% 0.0% BECA Updated Paper, June

17 5. UFI Asia Pacific Report ( The annual UFI report, The Trade Fair Industry in Asia, is a comparative study of Asia s trade fair market. It shows market growth in both exhibition and trade fairs, and in exhibition space within the Asia Pacific region, providing comparisons with Australia. When the first edition was published in 2005, this was the first report of its type that Business Strategies Group (BSG) had published jointly with UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. The report draws on exclusive databases which BSG has been developing since The following is a release on the latest edition of the report. Outline on Trade Fair Industry in Asia - 6th edition The latest UFI/BSG report on the trade fair industry in Asia has been released updated with the latest statistical information from This report features over 90-pages of data, analysis and commentary. It is designed to help understand the latest developments in Asia's exhibition markets. Report features include: Updated exhibition statistics across 15 markets An analysis of available exhibition space in the region A review of exhibition industry growth in 2009 Analysis of key industry trends A review of key players in Asia Full list of all "UFI Approved Events" in the Asia Pacific region. The report has been designed to provide those working in the industry or with an interest in trade fair data with a 'road map' of the industry in Asia. It assists exhibition organisers in their business planning, venues in developing appropriate capacity and management skills and those providing services to the industry in better understanding the region as well as providing insight into the current status of trade fair industry in Asia. Extensive original research and analysis were undertaken to generate the data included in this comprehensive report. The report covers the trade fairs industry in 15 markets - Australia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The report may be purchased from BECA Updated Paper, June

18 UFI also produces a Global Exhibition Barometer which tracks economic performance by region. The most recent Barometer was released in December UFI s accompanying press release highlighted the following: Global Exhibition Industry Leaves Behind Depressed Business Climate January 14, 2011 Paris: UFI s 6th Global Barometer Survey, conducted in December 2010, confirms that, on a global level, the exhibition industry has now left behind the depressed business environment of the past two years and is moving positively ahead. The data was collected from 173 companies in 54 countries including UFI members and, in the USA, members of SISO (Society of Independent Show Organizers) and for Central & South America, AFIDA (Asociacion International de Ferias de America). The new survey results provide clear exhibition industry trends drawing on the results of earlier surveys. Detailed results continue to demonstrate significant regional variations with a smaller exposure to the downturn in the Middle East and Africa and an earlier recovery in Asia/Pacific and the Americas than in Europe. The confidence level that the impact of the economic crisis on their exhibition business is now over has significantly increased in the Americas during the last 6 months where it has reached a level of optimism similar to that in the Asia/Pacific region. UFI s current Barometer Survey shows that a majority of those surveyed in three regions (Americas, Asia/Pacific and Middle East/Africa) registered an increase in profits of more than 10% in 2010 compared to Europe has also shown a significant improvement with a majority of survey participants now expecting stable or better operating profits compared to A bottoming-out of the decreased turnover experienced since 2008 has occurred in all regions and a majority of companies worldwide now anticipate an increase in turnover during the first half of Most significant is the change in perception of the current impact of the economic crisis. Today almost 50% of those surveyed have put this behind them and are looking positively to the future. However, it s not until the third quarter of 2012 that a real end to the crisis is foreseen. Those surveyed are still sensitive to the potential for renewed economic difficult which they see may occur due to the state of the national/regional economy, internal management challenges and global economic uncertainty. Paul Woodward, UFI Managing Director, stated, We think that this 6th Global Barometer provides a very accurate view of the state of the exhibition industry. It s certainly reassuring to see that our industry has now recovered in all regions. UFI will continue to conduct this bi-annual industry survey in order to measure the pulse of developments in our global exhibition market as our members and others in the industry have clearly indicated that it has become an important tool in their business planning. Download the survey for free at free downloading at under the Trade Fair Sector menu BECA Updated Paper, June

19 6. CountryBrand Index ( Since Australia is currently developing a broader Brand to encompass business (as well as leisure tourism) and this Brand is of direct relevance to the business events sector, it is appropriate to consider available relevant research into this area. The 2008 CountryBrand Index was the 4 th year of this report published by a global brand consultant, FutureBrand. The Index is the result of qualitative and quantitative research including nearly 2,700 international travellers: it includes rankings and trends as well as country brand analytics, travel motivations and insights into the challenges and opportunities within the world of travel, tourism and country branding. Australia once again was No 1 on the top 10 list of Overall Country Brand 2008: 1. Australia 2. Canada 3. United States 4. Italy 5. Switzerland 6. France 7. New Zealand 8. United Kingdom 9. Japan 10. Sweden Some specific results relevant to the business events sector in 2008: Ideal for Business: Australia No 6 Easiest to do Business with: Australia No 8 Extend a Business Trip: Australia not in Top 10 Conferences: Australia not in Top 10 (and ranking falling since 2004) There is another brand index which could also be referenced the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index (NBI) which now covers some 50 countries and measures the power and quality of each country s brand image by combining the following six dimensions: BECA Updated Paper, June

20 Exports Determines the public's image of products and services from each country and the extent to which consumers proactively seek or avoid products from each country-of-origin. Governance Measures public opinion regarding the level of national government competency and fairness and describes individuals' beliefs about each country's government, as well as its perceived commitment to global issues such as democracy, justice, poverty and the environment. Culture and Heritage Reveals global perceptions of each nation's heritage and appreciation for its contemporary culture, including film, music, art, sport and literature. People Measures the population's reputation for competence, education, openness and friendliness and other qualities, as well as perceived levels of potential hostility and discrimination. Tourism Captures the level of interest in visiting a country and the draw of natural and man-made tourist attractions. Investment and Immigration Determines the power to attract people to live, work or study in each country and reveals how people perceive a country's economic and social situation. Overall rankings are shown below more detailed information not available Ahnolt-GfK Roper Nation Brands IndexSM Overall Brand Ranking (Top 10 of 50 Nations) United States Germany 2. France France 3. Germany United Kingdom 4. United Kingdom Canada 5. Japan Japan 6. Italy Italy 7. Canada United States 8. Switzerland Switzerland 9. Australia Australia 10. Spain, Sweden (tie) Sweden Source: 2009 and 2008 Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands IndexSM BECA Updated Paper, June

21 7. Business Events Venue Project (BEVP) A joint project, endorsed by BECA and led by Prof Leo Jago from Victoria University, has seen the application of specialised software which allows for the regular uploading of data collection from venues. Initially commenced as a pilot with a small group of Australian s convention and exhibition centres (Stage 1), it has now been modified. All the major convention centres have now agreed to supply confidential data and have backloaded data from Stage 2 has expanded the project to test the software with hotels. A pilot involving five hotels commenced in April 1, 2009 and finished at the end of Modifications were then made to take account of variations in venue software and data classifications. Data is being uploaded on a monthly basis. Stages 1 and 2 have been funded by Victorian University and industry associations BECA, TTF and AHA. TA provided some initial seed funding for the development of the software. Stage 3 in 2010 is the more extensive rollout of the program through Australia and has been made possible with the assistance of a government TQUAL grant, the result of a successful submission by TTF with the support of BECA and the AHA. A series of workshops for venues around Australia was held in October and November (refer to further details on the BECA website) Stage 4: Once fully operational, the project has capacity to deliver timely consolidated reports on BE business based on venue data. Classifications should allow for segmentation into type of event, industry area, number of days, and number of participants. The industry will be able to used topline reports to gauge volume of business events, type, size and trends. Specific venues will be able to benchmark their performance with the total averages, with the added capacity to compare to their competitive sub-sets. An example of a topline graph is provided below for illustration purposes (taken from convention centre aggregates): BECA Updated Paper, June

22 Note: 2009 figure shows only 9 months til Sept09. The following example is taken from the hotel pilot which demonstrates the detail available, and the capability of individual hotels comparing to the total hotel average for a specific industry type i.e. accounting/hr/management... (fictional hotel name given): BECA Updated Paper, June

23 8. Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) Bureau Convention Delegate Expenditure Surveys Over several years the individual convention bureaux have produced various convention delegate expenditure surveys. In 2008 AACB obtained agreement of all bureaux to adopt a three-tiered standarised survey covering major cities, secondary cities and regional areas. The new standardised surveys were introduced in Figures show per delegate spend by local, interstate (domestic) and international BE participants. This information should provide comparisons on delegate expenditure over time, and between destinations. The delegate expenditure figures can be used to determine a economic value of specific pieces of business, and the overall industry value once cross-referenced to total participants numbers. Enquires about current results of surveys should be directed to Michael Cannon, Executive Director, AACB mike.cannon@aacb.org.au BECA Updated Paper, June

24 9. Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) EEAA is currently working with Prof Leo Jago on producing data on the size and economic value of the Australian trade show industry, using baseline data from the BEVP overlaid with data sourced from its own members. Once established, regular updating of this data should provide a performance measurement for this sector of the BE industry. BECA Updated Paper, June

25 ANNEXURE: SNAPSHOT OF AVAILABLE BE PERFORMANCE INFORMATION SOURCES Name Availability Comment Relative Market Share? ICCA global Shows Australia s city/country rankings, comparative global numbers of meetings market share. and participants. ABS Overseas Arrivals and Departures (OAD) TRA IVS + NVS plus BE supplementary questions UIA Meetings Statistics Report UFI Asia Pacific Trade Shows Report Country Brand Index BE Venue Project Annual released May/June (Limited public availability, free to members) Monthly (publicly available - free) Only 2008 data available at this point, but aim for quarterly release of topline tables (publicly available - free) Annual June release (Limited free information, full report available for purchase) Annual, with updates during year (Available for purchase) Annual (Available on website - free) Monthly (Aggregates only to be available to industry. Specific venue information confidential.) Predominantly international association meetings, but shows Australia s comparative market share. Main reason only for travel. Conventions only no incentives or exhibitions Captures more BE and incentives than ABS. No timeline series available as yet on supplementary questions which are only guaranteed to 2010 Only international association meetings, Australia s comparative market share. Limited to exhibitions/trade shows, but shows Australia s comparative market share. Shows country ranking in variety of areas, including convention destination, place to do business. Still in rollout stage. no Shows market share within Australia states and territories but not global Shows Australia s comparative global market share. Shows Australia s comparative Asia Pacific market share. Shows Australia s comparative global ranking Capacity to show market shares within Australia Shows Trends? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes yes BECA Updated Paper, June