Adelaide will host the Australian Tourism Exchange conference which will attract more than 2000 delegates from around the globe. The Australian Tourism Exchange conference (ATE) will be held at the redeveloped Adelaide Convention Centre from April 15-19, 2018.
ATE, which is Australia’s largest annual travel and tourism business-to-business event, brings together Australian tourism businesses and tourism wholesalers and retailers from around the world through a combination of scheduled business appointments and networking events. It also provides international travel buyers with the opportunity to experience Australia’s tourism offering first-hand through pre and post event familiarisations.
The 2017, held in Sydney last month, attracted delegates from 548 international travel companies representing more than 30 countries along with 555 Australian tourism businesses.
About 2500 delegates are expected at the Adelaide event, injecting an estimated $10 million into the South Australian economy.
The annual event has been run since 1979 and was last held in Adelaide in 2010.
International tourism is worth about $1.1 billion a year to the South Australian economy.
South Australian Tourism Minister Leon Bignell said the conference would also allow delegates to visit nearby premium food and wine regions such as Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, Kangaroo Island and Eyre Peninsula.
“We will be serving up our outstanding wines and culinary delicacies as well as getting these important visitors out to the wonderful regions where it all comes from,” he said.
The Adelaide Convention Centre opened in 1987 as the first purpose built convention centre in Australia. It is undergoing a $400 million expansion, due for completion in August.
