A significant reduction in airline fuel surcharges and a favourable exchange rate for Asian currencies are being used to entice Asian conference and incentive groups to Australia.

The current economic conditions have presented business event planners with a challenge. On the one hand, meetings still need to take place – and incentives too, for some industries. On the other hand, cost is a major factor and managing budgets is taking some imagination.

Business Events Australia is pushing this latter point to convince conference and incentive groups they should be considering Australia for their next meeting.

“Australia has professional facilities and operators that are proven in handling major groups,” says Johnny Nee, Tourism Australia’s regional general manager – north Asia. “Plus the destination has a good balance of business and unique experiences.”

Cost savings
Priscilla Sun, sales and marketing event manager, Astra Zeneca China, took an incentive group of 1,000 people to Sydney in January. Although the company booked long ago, the increase in buying power in the current climate proved to be a welcome bonus.

“The cost of visiting attractions wasn’t too high for us, we got good value for money out of this trip,” she says. “We budgeted for a total cost of RMB5,000 per person per day.” 

That figure is approximately AUD$1,050 based on today’s exchange rate. However, the rate in August 2008 meant it would have cost RMB6,000 for the same amount – an improvement for inbound visitors of 20 per cent in just a six-month period.

Kuo Kuo-chen, deputy manager of the marketing and planning division at Fubon Life Assurance in Taiwan, took a group to Australia for a multidestination incentive and conference in September 2008. The group visited Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Outback over a seven-day period. Fubon budgeted on an average daily cost of AUD$390 per delegate.

Memorable conference
Kuo says they were happy with the trip. While the wildlife experiences made a positive impression on the Fubon Group, he says cost was also memorable. “The daily cost of living in Australia fitted our budget well,” says Kuo. “Also, the hotel prices are generally cheaper than in Europe and North America.”

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is another area that Tourism Australia expects planners to begin using more when selecting a destination. “This issue will become increasingly important,” says Nee. “Tourism Australia has also just conducted a ‘green audit’ to collect evidence of the nation’s sustainable tourism credentials.”

However, Australia’s push to be seen as an environmentally sustainable destination will take some time to impress regionally. Astra Zeneca’s Sun says: “Australia’s position on this issue was not a deciding factor for us. We chose based on the China-friendly nature of the country and its appeal to our delegates. However, CSR programmes are very important to us as a company, not only in China but also globally.”

Cheaper flights
The concept of cheaper flights is still debatable. While the base cost of flights has certainly decreased, carriers such as Cathay Pacific and Qantas often manage to find a ‘mystery’ tax that always significantly increases the base price regardless of what the fuel surcharges are.

Qantas also ceased its Sydney to Beijing and Melbourne to Shanghai routes last month, citing concerns about low demand. However it did increase the Sydney to Shanghai route to seven times per week at the same time.

In a recent interview published in Australia, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, said: “Airlines around the world are confronting significantly changed operating conditions and have to ensure capacity is best matched to demand”.

Nee says: “Airlines are currently offering good value. Fuel surcharges have dropped by 75 per cent. This helps to make Australia affordable for Asian groups.”

Kuo agrees. “The airfares to Australia are also reasonable, plus Australia has a Western environment so it was good value for money for us,” he says.