AUSTRALASIA – Queensland’s capital Brisbane has won its bid against the Thai capital of Bangkok to host 3,000 of the world’s leading tropical medicine experts at the International Conference for Tropical Medicine and Malaria in 2016.
Set to be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC), the conference is estimated to generate AU$9m (US$9.2m) in economic benefit to the state of Queensland economy.
The Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games, Jann Stuckey, welcomed the result, saying it was the first time the event would be held in Australia.
“To have the world’s leading tropical medicine specialists travelling to Brisbane is a coup for the city and a great result for Queensland,” she said. “Securing business events like this is an important part of our strategy to double overnight visitor expenditure to $30bn by 2020.”
Brisbane’s key convention partners, led by BCEC, joined with the Australian Society of Parasitology and the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases to bid for the event. Events Queensland, BCEC and Brisbane Marketing all played key roles in securing the five-day conference.
Bob O’Keeffe, BCEC General Manager, said the event added to the growing number of scientific and medical conferences choosing Brisbane and the centre for their events. “The benefits and legacies of hosting knowledge-based specialty conferences such as Tropical Medicine are considerable and showcase the Centre and the city’s ability to host world class scientific events,” he said.
The winning bid was prepared by BCEC’s Manager, International Convention Bidding, Alison Gardiner, in conjunction with malaria immunology expert and BCEC Convention Advocate Professor Michael Good and Malcolm Jones who travelled to Rio de Janeiro for the presentation along with confirmed PCO, arinex.
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