Thursday 20th May 2021
Business Events Victoria (BEV) today welcomed the Victorian Government’s long-term commitment to Business Events in regional Victoria through the announcement of $1.7 million of funding over four years, to continue its work in attracting business events to regional Victoria.
BEV Executive Officer, Chris Porter said: “This long-term commitment by the Victorian Government is a fantastic outcome and is testament to the important role business events play as a key driver in the regional Victorian visitor economy, particularly during the traditionally quieter shoulder season and mid-week.”
“The regional business events and tourism sector as a whole has been one of the hardest impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and this positive funding announcement allows BEV to ensure its continued long-term strategic planning into the future and support the industries recovery from the pandemic.”
According to Mr Porter, while this long-term commitment is a positive announcement for business events in regional Victoria, BEV will continue to strongly advocate for additional funding to support the ongoing attraction of business events in regional Victoria through a Business Events Support Fund. “This will ensure that regional Victoria is competitive with other regional destinations around Australia that already provide significant financial support for national events occurring in regional areas,” Mr Porter said.
“We see the Business Events Support Fund as being a critical missing element to ensuring that regional Victoria remains competitive in attracting these national business events, both now and into the future.”
BEV is also pleased to see the long-term commitment received by the Melbourne Convention Bureau ($41m over four years). Victoria as a whole needs to come back strong from the challenges of 2020, and this support will go a long way to ensure the sectors recovery.
