Business Events Adelaide has announced that business events secured to South Australia in the last financial year reached an all-time high worth a record $336 million to the State economy.
Business Events Adelaide is a 50-year-old independent, not for profit, member-based organisation. Its purpose is to win business events for South Australia, a valued and proven economic driver in both the long and short term.
The business event sector is worth more than $2.5bn to SA, and Business Events Adelaide contributes some $330m of that.
Beyond the high daily spend of delegates, business events provide an economic tail of multiplying benefits that often endure years into the future. Long-term benefits can be seen in research collaborations, business partnerships, company startups and even a contribution to population growth with the arrival of new professional and skilled workers.
During the Annual General Meeting, held at Immersive Light and Art (ILA) on Wednesday night, Business Events Adelaide Chair Ian Horne advised that 174 future business events had been secured.
Mr Horne also announced that the model used to value business events had been reviewed by the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies from the University of Adelaide, with new figures indicating that interstate and overseas delegates spend $1,165 a day whilst in Adelaide for a business event.
Highlights of the 2023-24 financial year included Tourism Australia’s Dreamtime (now Australia Next), which returned to SA for the first time in seven years in November 2023 and offered the opportunity to showcase Adelaide and its world-class venues to international event organisers and media. TA estimates that coverage of Dreamtime reached a global audience of over 112 million people, helping to establish Adelaide as a destination of choice.
Further information on Business Events Adelaide activities can be found at
As put by Minister for Tourism Zoe Bettison
The State Government recognises the value of Business Events committing $14m over four years in the last budget to boosting the Business Events Fund to increase visitation in winter months.
Business Events like conferences and conventions are the bread and butter of our visitor economy, filling our hotels throughout the week with business delegates spending significantly more per person than leisure visitors.
As put by Ian Horne, Chair Business Events Adelaide
It is extremely pleasing, in my first year as Chair, to be able to report on a year of such strong achievement. Attracting 174 business events and more than 60,000 delegates to Adelaide – filling city hotels along the way – boosts the State economy and provides an enduring economic tail of meaningful connections and commercial opportunity.
Our valuation of business events was groundbreaking when it was first devised but time – and Adelaide – has moved on. There has long been a concern that the economic model has not kept pace with an increase in delegate spend, driven notably by some high-quality additions to Adelaide’s hotel room supply that has increased both demand and the average daily room rate.
We feel confident that this update to our economic model reflects the true impact of a business event to our State.
As put by Damien Kitto, Chief Executive Officer Business Events Adelaide
Our 2023-24 results are testament to the skill, commitment and hard work of the business event sector, a real ‘Team Adelaide’ effort. Adelaide is building a strong reputation as a destination of choice.
With the investment in infrastructure – both redeveloped and new hotels, products and experiences – and a strong economic narrative in a range of key industry sectors, Adelaide now offers an enviable blend of big city capability with a boutique, compact feel for business event organisers both domestically and overseas.
