In a bid to maintain pressure for event industry support as Australia slowly opens up for business, representatives of the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) met last week with Shadow Minister for Sport and Tourism, Senator Don Farrell, and Shadow Minister for the Arts Tony Burke.
The conversation focused on BECA’s three key priorities of business survival and retention of specialist industry skills, risk mitigation and confidence, and recovery needs to stimulate demand.
With an election on its way, Mr Donaghy outlined the simple message that needs to get across to all vote hungry political parties. “Given the significant lead time required for the national restart of the business events industry, many parts of our critical supply chain will be faced with the challenge of surviving without functional revenue, noting that any deposits received for future activity must be securely held until services are delivered. These businesses will continue to run at a loss for another six months or more.”
Senator Don Farrell, Shadow Minister for Sport and Tourism said “Business events make a hugely important contribution to Australia’s visitor economy, sustaining thousands of businesses and even more jobs. As such, I really appreciated the opportunity to meet with members of the Business Events Council of Australia earlier this week.
There can be no doubt that the business events sector has suffered significantly as a result of the pandemic. In addition, like many other industries, it’s clear that the business events sector can’t just snap back as soon as borders open.”
