DESPITE falling short of their $80.98 million target, the Perth Convention Bureau claims it has generated $74.47 million in delegate spending from 29 international and 45 national conventions in the 2000-2001 financial year.
It’s a substantial return on the initial grant from the State Government of only $1 million. And with the announcement of the Convention and Exhibition Centre, the PCB hopes to net a bigger share of the lucrative international conventions, pushing the delegates’ spending figure out to around $200 million.
There already are tentative bookings generating an economic impact of $42 million scheduled for the new centre and a considerable amount of business under development.
PCB director of communications Dion Bromilow said the bureau worked closely with local host associations to encourage them to bid for conventions.
Assistance package of $4000 are available as is in-kind support to produce bid documents, including letters from the Premier and the Lord Mayor highlighting why Perth should be the host city.
Launched in 1991 the PCB has supported 550 national and international conferences. This represents 169,000 delegates and more than one million hotel room nights.
Convention and incentive tourism is a high yield part of the business with international research suggesting conference delegates spend on average eight times more than regular tourists.