Sydney took the number one position as the most popular destination for business meetings and events in the region, followed by Melbourne while cities such as Cairns and Fiji's Nadi were new to the list.

The lists were compiled by Cvent, a market-leading meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider. 

Australian cities were previously featured in one Asia Pacific list, but due to increased sourcing volume to the region, Cvent unveiled Asia and Australia & Oceania as two standalone lists this year. The expanded list highlights Australia’s and Oceania’s growing strength and popularity as a meetings and business events destination.

“It’s fantastic to know that Sydney has received the accolade of Top Meeting Destination,” said Lyn Lewis-Smith, CEO, Business Events Sydney (BESydney).

“We have an undeniable appetite for innovation, a high degree of professionalism and the infrastructure to support productivity and business – particularly within the Asia Pacific. Combined with our positive historical track record, this title as the number one meetings destination in Australia and Oceania will be a boon for the interest we already receive across our strength sectors such as professional services, technology, and health and science.”

“Renowned as a global city on Asia’s doorstep, and boasting a strong and stable economy, Sydney is the ideal destination to conduct meetings with international counterparts,” concluded Lewis-Smith.

The lists were compiled based on meeting and event booking activity across Cvent’s venue sourcing sites, including the Cvent Supplier Network (CSN) through which more than $16 billion in business was sourced in 2018.

Cvent's Top 10 Meeting Destinations in Australia & Oceania are:

1. Sydney
2. Melbourne
3. Brisbane
4. Gold Coast
5. Perth
6. Auckland
7. Adelaide
8. Queenstown
9. Cairns
10. Nadi

“With more events being held around the world, we’re proud to expand our lists this year with the addition of Top Meeting Destinations in Australia and Oceania,” said Chris McAndrews, vice president of marketing for Cvent Hospitality Cloud.

“Meeting and event activity in the region is booming and it is exciting to highlight new cities that have been successful in positioning themselves as top destinations to host meetings and events.

Business events add USD $1.5 trillion to the global GDP and because of this positive economic impact, the cities featured in this year’s Top Meeting Destinations lists have put significant time and resources into attracting more business events to their locales.”

Methodology

Cvent evaluated more than 11,000 cities worldwide featured on Cvent’s venue sourcing sites to compile the eighth annual list. Activity was tracked from January 2018 through December 2018 and destinations were ranked according to the following criteria:

• Unique Request for Proposals Received
• Total Room Nights Received
• Awarded Request for Proposals
• Awarded Room Nights
• Percentage of Qualified Meeting Venues
• Number of Profile Views

To see the full list of the Top Meeting Destinations around the world, please visit here