It's in the air...

How fickle the conference industry can be. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics covering outbound conference delegates show that destination preferences tend to change - in fact, countries once a high priority are now being shunned.The bureau has projected its figures for this year to cover the entire 12 months, and the winner is...New Zealand, with a massive 40 per cent increase in Australian meetings business compared with last year.

There are perhaps two good reasons for this - increased competition across the Tasman has led to sales forays into Australia, raising awareness of New Zealand as a destination; and unsettling problems in other countries such as bird flu and bombings.

China and Hong Kong are well up in the list of favoured destinations and Singapore managed to attract 7 per cent more business tourists, while the rest of South-East Asia has dipped.

Another big winner is Europe, with 24 per cent more visitors (the UK figures rose 35 per cent). Long-haul treks seem to be winning the day, thanks to healthy competition and competitive airfares.Meanwhile, the US had a 9 per cent drop, yet still had more conference arrivals than the whole of South-East Asia. This is interesting as there is no competition when it comes to fares, which are pretty steep.

So what is in the crystal ball? I believe long haul will continue to be strong, especially with the introduction of the A380s and 777s which can fly non-stop between Sydney and the UK. For airlines to fill all these seats, fares will need to be competitive.

Watch this space!

Rob Yeomans
Publisher