New research indicates a positive shift for domestic business events

With 84 per cent of business decision makers now planning events within the next 6 to 12 months (up 13 percent from February 2022), the confidence of Australia’s domestic business events sector is the highest it has been since the pandemic began.

Decision makers are showing a clear desire to return to face-to-face events (with a reduced use of hybrid formats) and 90 per cent of respondents state they feel at ease with the idea of travelling intrastate and interstate for business purposes. 

Retaining business onshore is also looking positive, with 95 per cent of corporate's responsible for planning events offshore stating they are likely to relocate one or more of those events to Australia over the next 12-months.

For decision makers planning to hold events within the next 12-18 months, they continue to show most interest in state and national level conferences, followed by incentive events to reward high achievers. Around 1 in 2 businesses claim that building team morale and/or rewarding employees is a key motivation for such events.

For businesses planning to hold domestic events in the future, the vast majority estimate that the number of events intended, the number of attendees per event and the allocated budget of their domestic event(s) will be similar if not greater than pre-COVID levels. 

This latest domestic corporate sentiment research surveyed 454 people between 10 and 27 June 2022 who are either solely or partly responsible for event decision making in Australia.