Experience Gold Coast, the organisation tasked with driving growth and opportunities for tourism, events, education, and arts and culture, has modified its strategy for the Asia-Pacific business events market, moving from a broad approach to a more focused and targeted engagement model for its signature annual event, This Is Gold Coast (TIGC).
Happening from August 4 to 7, this year’s TIGC brings together over 50 business event organisers from Australia and New Zealand, but buyers from Asia-Pacific are notably absent.
Brooke Campbell, head of business events for Experience Gold Coast, told TTGmice that it was a deliberate move, with the intention to provide the market with destination showcase through familiarisation trips.
Campbell said that tailored familiarisation trips for Asia-Pacific buyers yielded more successful outcomes.
For instance, Experience Gold Coast is collaborating with Business Events Australia for this December’s Australia Next event to host pre- and post-familiarisation trips specifically for the China and Indonesia markets.
The organisation is also in the process of developing a cricket-focused familiarisation trip to appeal directly to a group of buyers from India.
Earlier in June 2025, a roadshow in China and Taiwan – Experience Gold Coast’s first in seven years – secured 15 promising leads with a small delegation of just three suppliers – Experience Gold Coast, Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCEC), and Village Roadshow Theme Parks.
Despite the temporary absence of Asia-Pacific buyers at TIGC, Campbell stressed that the region remains a strong priority.
“We do have a number of Asia-Pacific buyers who have shown interest in TIGC, and we might bring them back next year,” she added.
Beyond the new strategy, Experience Gold Coast has also changed its criteria for funding support, with financing now available for groups of at least 150 people – down from 250 – who stay for a minimum of three nights. In the last financial year, the organisation secured 80 forward events all the way to 2032.
With the 2032 Olympics looming, Experience Gold Coast is also working with the GCEC to attract sporting conferences and related associations.
Natalie Donoghue, GCEC’s business development manager, told TTGmice that the venue have had back-to-back events since mid-February, all the way to mid-December.
“For 2026, we’re almost fully booked for the same period,” added Donoghue.
While GCEC’s international events currently sits at around five per cent, Donoghue expects it to “grow over the next few years” as GCEC actively pursues several new international bids.
“The Gold Coast is a very attractive destination for corporate events and association conferences. People who approach us already know what GCEC and the Gold Coast can offer,” she said.
Donoghue added that the city’s new infrastructure – from new hotels such as the Mondrian Gold Coast to the construction of the light rail – will be major draws moving forward.
The Gold Coast and Australia are also widely recognised as “safe destinations” for business events – an advantageous perception that has led to a number of last-minute bookings, such as a 2,000-pax incentive programme from India that switched from Dubai to the Gold Coast due to instability in the Middle East, Campbell shared.
