Why NZ has a ‘real opportunity’ to tap into the trillion dollar global business events market
Friday, 19 June 2026
Business conferences generated about $925 million in economic activity last year, but a combination of new factors mean the sector is poised to deliver even higher returns in future, experts say.
Concerts by global superstars such as Robbie Williams or top level sporting competitions such as the New Zealand International Football Festival tend to dominate the event headlines.
But this week the spotlight was firmly focused on business events, with the International Convention Centre in Auckland playing host to MEETINGS, New Zealand’s premier annual tradeshow for the sector.
Globally, the business events sector is a US$1.8 trillion industry, and MEETINGS, which was attended by more than 1500 people, is an opportunity for New Zealand to tap into that.
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Business Events Industry Aotearoa chief executive Lisa Hopkins said the domestic business events industry was strong, but it was finite, so growth was going to come from offshore.
New Zealand had never been in as strong a position to host major international conventions as it was now, she said.
“If you're an event organiser, you want the destination you choose to have several key things in place. One is safety, another is good flight connections, and the third is great infrastructure to support the event.
“What sets New Zealand apart is our position as a safe, politically stable country, and that’s been a very strong message to emerge recently during this period of global uncertainty.”
There were also not many countries that could say they had opened three new convention centres of international standard in the last four years, she said.
“It gives us the scope to bid for conferences that in the past we would not have been able to do. Because we didn't have the infrastructure to tap into that trillion dollar market. Now we do.”
Hopkins said people had to stop thinking about the sector as just providing a good time for conference delegates, and start taking it seriously.
“It needs to be understood that yes, there's an immediate, short-term economic sugar rush that hits hospitality, that hits tourism.
“But there's also a long tail of other ongoing impacts, such as longer term business deals and trade, the sharing of knowledge and research, and also social impact. And that’s the real value of the industry.”
Generating nearly a billion-odd dollars as the industry did last year was nothing to be sneezed at, especially as it was done with relatively little government assistance, she said.
“We anticipate the number will be bigger in 2026, and subsequent years, but the question is what could the sector generate with more support?”
The only government funding available for business events is through Tourism New Zealand’s conference assistance programme. That’s primarily funded by the International Visitor Levy, and it is for feasibility studies and bid presentations.
At MEETINGS, Tourism Minister Louise Upston announced an additional one-off $1m in funding for the conference assistance programme for the 2026/27 financial year.
The funding would enable Tourism NZ to chase 110 conference bids worth a record $253m in the next financial year, Penelope Ryan, the organisation’s global manager business events, said.
“There’s been a strong recovery in business events sector numbers over the past year. We have a record number of international conferences booked and a strong pipeline of bids, and we want to build upon that…
“We’re seeing increased interest from corporate and incentive groups out of North American, Australia and South-East Asia, including some that were originally looking at Europe,” she said.
Confidence was evident on the show floor at MEETINGS, which featured 253 exhibition stands representing 18 regions, and displaying what New Zealand has to offer.
A full-scale slice of Hobbiton, with a Hobbit home, living grass and plants, and a running stream; the opportunity to lift the Bledisloe Cup or try out a golf putting green, and cocktails and drag queens were just some of the attractions.
But in the midst of it all, more than 600 buyers from across Australia, South-East Asia, China, India, North America, and New Zealand visited, and more than 6000 meetings took place.
Last year’s event generated $110m of business bookings. This year, exhibitors were optimistic that bookings would be even better .
Elle Armon-Jones, from The Big Foody Food Tours, said it was her first time at MEETINGS but it was proving worthwhile, with months’ worth of business, both international and domestic, coming out of her first meetings alone.
“That's vital for business longevity. It’s exciting to see what the potential is and to learn about new events and opportunities.
“Business events have long lead times so you can plan accordingly, a bit like with the cruise sector, whereas with tourism there tends to be much shorter timeframes involved.”
With the opening of the NZICC it felt like New Zealand had opened up to the international business market, and Auckland was the gateway into the country for conference-goers who wanted to stay longer and explore more, she said.
Ceillhe Sperath is co-founder of TIME Unlimited Tours, which specialises in small-group, luxury tours that highlight local landscapes and Māori culture. She said many international business visitors wanted to experience more of New Zealand than just business, and her tours could provide that.
The business that could be generated from an event like MEETINGS was valuable, she said. “With groups from business events we can actually get the same yield with fewer events, and so that’s exciting.”
But an additional benefit was the partnerships she could build with local operators so her tours delivered better experiences, and to build strength through collaboration, she said.
“It’s key because Australia and other countries are in the market too, and have much bigger budgets. So we need to stick to our knitting and showcase what we have together. That's why I love these events ‒ they give us that opportunity.”
For Ken Pereira, who is head of business events at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, it was important to highlight that business visitors had about three times the value of the average leisure tourist.
“They spend more per day and often visit in off-peak periods. So it’s a lucrative subset of the broader visitors, and we want those dollars spent here.”
Beyond that, business events were a powerful and often underestimated driver of wider economic growth and long-term impacts, he said.
“They bring people together to share knowledge, spark new ideas, and create lasting relationships. They connect local industries with international expertise and open the door to opportunities for collaboration and investment.”
That’s why Tātaki’s convention bureau is working to attract more conferences to Auckland. It had secured 76 business events for the region to February 2029, and they would contribute about $107m to the economy, he said.
Those events include the International Coral Reef Symposium in July, with up to 2500 delegates, and the Asia-Pacific Intelligent Transport Systems Forum next May, with 1000 delegates.
But a recent visit to Frankfurt for IMEX, the world’s largest trade show for business events, showed there was a clear opportunity for New Zealand in the current global climate, Pereira said.
“We are prospecting out through to 2038, and there are big opportunities on the horizon. Many of these international conferences are planning years ahead, but it’s very globally competitive.”
MEETINGS, which would be hosted at the NZICC for the next three years, helped show off the city’s brand new facilities, and infrastructure, he said.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to keep building on the experiences we can offer, and the story we tell to attract buyers from international markets.”