Maintaining the momentum of a successful G20 year, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) has confirmed new conferences with a value of $153 million to Brisbane’s economy.
The 2014/15 Financial Year saw 147 convention bid wins for BCEC representing a 35% increase in the number of wins over the previous period.
The healthcare, medical, scientific and education sectors dominate this latest round of new convention wins, further endorsing Brisbane’s leadership strengths in these key sectors.
The world’s leading scientists, medical researchers and healthcare professionals will be among the more than 75,000 delegates and internationally renowned speakers heading to Brisbane generating 282,000 room nights for the city’s hotels.
BCEC’s long term partnerships and collaboration with Brisbane’s science and research communities through its highly successful Brisbane Convention Advocates Partnership is an influencing factor in attracting high calibre international scientific meetings to Brisbane.
The Centre is supported by its convention partners Tourism and Events Queensland and Brisbane Marketing in delivering high yield international meetings to Brisbane and Queensland.
From bio mechanics and biomedical engineering, extreme medicine, behavioural genetics to melanoma research, these newly won meetings provide a unique opportunity for knowledge sharing and enhancement of expertise in these sectors at a local level.
XXVI Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB) 2017 combining with the Asian-Pacific Association for Biomechanics Conference (APAB) are two such meetings secured for Brisbane bringing over 1,000 of the world’s foremost scientists in the field of biomechanics to the city for four days in July 2017.
BCEC Convention Advocate, Emeritus Professor Mark Pearcy from the Queensland University of Technology, who is on the local organising committee said one of the key reasons behind Brisbane’s winning bid was the strong collaboration of Brisbane’s three leading universities, the Queensland University of Technology, The University of Queensland and Griffith University who represent an intense hub of high quality biomechanics activity with a strong reputation in the Asia Pacific region.
The three universities will co-host the Congress in association with the Australian and New Zealand Society of Biomechanics (ANZSB).
Other contributing factors he said was overall strength of the sector in Australia and the fact that there had been strong representation of Australian researchers on the International Executive Council for many years. Professor Pearcy said the Congress is expected to provide a lasting legacy of new and enhanced collaborations for a truly international biomechanics community.
Professor Pearcy said they anticipate strong student involvement in the Congress, particularly from the Asia Pacific region, along with other delegates travelling from the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, South Africa and Brazil.
The scientific program will cover all aspects of biomechanics ranging from cell and tissue biomechanics and modelling of how the tissues respond to loading to motor control, electrophysiology and wearable technologies for human and animal movement.
The BCEC Team prepared and led the bid which was presented to the International Executive Council in Boston. Brisbane won the right to host the meeting against strong competition from six competing international cities including San Diego, Calgary and Copenhagen.
BCEC General Manager, Bob O’Keeffe, said the recent spate of bid wins provided a great opportunity to showcase both the Centre and the City’s ability to host world class scientific events and build on the success and reputation of the G20 Leaders Summit.
“These latest major wins reinforce the importance of a strong united approach by the city’s stakeholders in attracting meetings involving key sector strengths.”
Brisbane Marketing General Manager, Conventions and Business Events, Rob Nelson said these bid wins once again reinforced the city’s reputation as a health and life sciences innovation and research hub.
“The Brisbane Convention Bureau is delighted to work together with BCEC, TEQ, our city partners and our institutions to help pull together bid proposals that ensure hosts and delegates have unparalleled conference experiences here in Brisbane,” he said.
Brisbane’s bid to host the XXVI Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB) 2017 combining with the Asian-Pacific Association for Biomechanics Conference (APAB) is supported by the Queensland Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland as part of its commitment to grow overnight visitor expenditure and showcase Brisbane as a leading business, study and leisure destination.