Australia’s fresh thinking, growing education qualifications and rapidly expanding bilateral relationships with our key trading partners is highlighting the increasingly important role for professional meetings across the Asia-Pacific.

Meetings are widely recognised as key to building relationships between professional groups.  Australia has long nurtured these relationships, as a strong and vibrant destination for association meetings and has consistently ranked as one of the world's top 20 meeting destinations in the past decade.[1]

 

Now, the growing importance of associations operating across the Asia-Pacific is driving developing closer relationships  to share knowledge between members and build the links necessary for future growth.

 

Manager of Australia’s new associations marketing initiative, Julie Sheather, said the expanding trade and investment relationship between Australia and other parts of Asia is one of the key drivers for growing regional meetings of professionals working in the same sectors.

 

“Traditionally, many of the global meetings of the world’s greatest minds have been organised and hosted by European or American associations, but we are now increasingly seeing associations in the Asia-Pacific region establishing their own professional networks and reaching out to each other to stage extraordinary events,” Ms Sheather said.

“The pursuit of mutual research, economic and trade interests requires solid understanding and often deep relationships built on trust and mutual respect,” Ms Sheather said. “This is particularly important in the Asia Pacific and international conferences, congresses and meetings are the ideal forums for knowledge sharing and networking.”

 

Ms Sheather said regional events in Asia Pacific have the potential to become bigger than their equivalent global events.

 

“As levels of education increase and the barriers which prevented trade in the past are addressed, the opportunities and desire for shared knowledge and experience grows.

 

“It is often the association’s membership who drive the creation of regional events, as they seek to increase their professional links in the Asia-Pacific region.”

 

Over the past 12 months, delegates from across Asia and the rest of the world have attended meetings hosted by Australian associations in industries ranging from medical science to manufacturing, from agribusiness to clean energy, from creative arts to financial services.

In 2011 Australia will host thousands of the world’s leading thinkers, experts and innovators in fields as diverse as genealogy, mental health, genetics, radiation physics, computer simulation and theology.

 

“Australia is an ideal business event destination with its close proximity to Asia, its economic stability, its creativity and innovation, and its world class business events facilities,” Ms Sheather said.

 

“Long considered as a place of spectacular natural beauty and friendly people, Australia is now also increasingly recognised as a centre of excellence, leading the world in biotechnology, agribusiness, computer and information systems, financial services, resources and mining and the development of clean energy.

“At a time when associations across the world are increasingly looking to deliver events which provide their members with compelling content, we recognise that this is increasingly important.”

 

Reasons associations meet in Australia

 

Australia offers:

 

-  A place of amazing natural beauty and people with a ‘can-do’ attitude. Anything is possible and nothing is too much trouble.

 

-  A multicultural and multi-lingual community. Australia’s national language is English but Australians come from more than 230 countries and speak over 200 languages.

 

-  The security and comfort that comes from being the world’s most stable economy and among people who are experts in what they do.

 

-  A well-established associations culture with support to access world-leaders across a range of fields including science, medicine, finance and mining.

 

-  Eight major international gateways, 40 international airlines and hundreds of daily international flights make it easy to transfer delegates to and from your event.

-  A great climate - Whatever time of year you come to Australia, you are likely to find an area of the country where the climate is just right to suit your event.

 

-  World-class convention and exhibition centres located in the heart of major cities or alongside some of Australia’s iconic beach, desert and rainforest locations.

 

-  Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance such as human development, quality of life, health care, life expectancy, public education, economic freedom and the protection of civil liberties and political rights.

 

-  The support of Tourism Australia and 16 convention bureaux and centres to attract extra delegates.

If you are looking to stage an international congress in a place that offers stability, profitability, maximum delegate attendance and a professional program, come and discover what you don't know about meeting in Australia. www.businessevents.australia.com/associations

 

Discovering the expertise

 

The world’s leading thinkers are heading to Australia in 2011 for a number of significant international conferences including:

 

World Engineering Anthropometry Resource - February

 

World Congress on Paediatric Critical Care – March

 

International Conference on Managing Fatigue – March

 

Alcohol Epidemiology Symposium of the Kettil Bruun Society – April

 

ICEF Asia Pacific – April

 

CILT International Convention – May

 

APEC Transportation Working Group – May

 

International Conference on Greek Research – June

 

International Conference on Communities and Technologies - June

 

Congress of the International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research – June

 

Happiness and its Causes - June

 

International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences – July

 

International Conference on Biodiversity – July

 

Plastic Surgery Congress – July

 

Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting – July

 

International Kodaly Symposium - July

 

International Association of Hydraulic Research Congress - July

 

International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists – July

 

World Environmental Education Congress – July

 

General Assembly of International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics - July

 

International Meeting of the Pacific Rim Ceramics Society - July

 

World Medical Tourism Conference - August

 

International Quantum Electronics Conference – August

 

Marine Engineering, Science and Technology Conference - August

 

Asia Pacific Autism Conference – September

 

Rhiosphere 3 International Conference – September

 

World Avocado Congress - September

 

AFRM Rehabilitation Congress - September

 

Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants - September

 

Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport – October

 

International Conference on Mechanisms of Actions of Nutraceuticals – October

 

World Congress on Project Management Association - October

 

World Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases – November

 

Population Health Research Network Conference – November

 

Parari 2011 - November

 

International Corrosion Congress – November

 

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting – November

 

Asia Pacific Microwave Conference - December

 

 

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[1] As ranked by the International Congress and Convention (ICCA)