Determining Business Event Legacies Beyond the Tourism Spend: An Australian Case Study Approach

Abstract

Government and industry are aware that the full value of the business event sector needs to be established. To date, the sector has been evaluated on the economic contribution it makes to host destination tourism. The tourism contributions have been impressive in themselves; however, this narrow focus has failed to account for a more extensive set of contributions to economies and communities. Impacts from business events in areas such as innovation, education, networking, trade, research, and practice are generally considered to outweigh the financial returns of the tourism spend. Although anecdotal evidence of the value of business events beyond the tourism dimension has been evident for some time, empirical research in this area is limited. This article has four objectives: first, to highlight the research need for understanding the broader impacts of business events beyond the tourism spend; second, to identify the range and impact of contributions made by business events to host communities beyond the tourism spend; third, to examine five Australian business events utilizing a grounded theory approach and present a range of identified legacies in the categories of knowledge expansion; networking, relationships, and collaboration; educational outcomes; raising awareness and profiling; and showcasing and destination reputation. Finally, the article discusses the implications of these findings for the business events sector.