Tourism Australia kicked off AIME with the announcement that its signature trade-marketing event, Dreamtime 2015, will be held in the city of Adelaide in South Australia.
Dreamtime 2015 is set to further strengthen the AUD$13 billion business events sector and will give Adelaide the opportunity to showcase its unprecedented level of investment in new and existing infrastructure to buyers from around the world.
Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan said as well as being key to promoting Australia as a business events destination internationally, Dreamtime was vital to the broader industry Tourism 2020 targets.
“Dreamtime is integral to our broader Tourism 2020 industry targets to grow the business events sector to $16 billion annually by the end of the decade,” he said.
“Dreamtime is Australia’s largest business events showcase, which allows us to connect with qualified buyers from key markets including Greater China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, New Zealand, USA and the United Kingdom.
“We believe Adelaide and South Australia provide the perfect gateway for our key international buyers to experience a fantastic array of experiences and destinations on offer in Australia – and it’s an ideal time for the city to showcase its new developments.
“We look forward to working in partnership with Adelaide Convention Bureau to highlight some of the excellent business event facilities and experiences on offer in Australia to our key markets around the world,” O’Sullivan said.
Adelaide is already renowned for its ‘ease of use’ functionality and services to the business events sector, but this has been further enhanced with redevelopments of its major landmarks including a two stage $400m development of the Adelaide Convention Centre to deliver world leading convention infrastructure; a $350m investment into the Adelaide Casino; and a $535m renovation of the iconic Adelaide Oval, increasing seating capacity by over 14,000 and providing a revamp of its facilities and surrounds.
Leon Bignell, South Australia’s Minister for Tourism said, “Adelaide, South Australia, is delighted and honored to be named host city for Dreamtime 2015
“Adelaide is a vibrant city. With exciting redevelopments of the Riverbank Events and Entertainment Precinct, including major expansions to the world class Adelaide Convention Centre and iconic Adelaide Oval, we now have a hub for major business events that is second to none.
“Adelaide has been named as one of Lonely Planet’s top ten cities to visit in 2014 and recently the New York Times singled out Adelaide as the city in Australia to visit this year. We are a hot destination and our big increases in visitor numbers is reflecting that,” he said.
Adelaide Convention Bureau CEO, Damian Kitto added, “We are thrilled to be hosting Dreamtime 2015. Adelaide Convention Bureau was strongly supported in its bid by the Government of South Australia through the South Australian Tourism Commission, and indeed the South Australian business events sector, all of whom recognised the great relevance, importance and potential for Adelaide as host city of Dreamtime 2015.
“South Australia’s outstanding food and wine will underpin the Dreamtime program, further promoting the ‘Restaurant Australia’ campaign,” Kitto said.
Dreamtime 2015 will be held towards the end of the year, tentatively scheduled for 6 December, with buyers spending five days in Adelaide and the remaining three days on educational visits to other Australian destinations.