Townsvillebulletin.news.com.au, 30 oct 2006
ABOUT 400 national and international convention delegates are expected to spend $1 million when they stay in Townsville this week.
Palmer St will be at the frontline of what is one of the most lucrative conventions the city has seen. The five-day Ecotourism Australia International conference, to be held at the Southbank Hotel, has attracted 300 delegates who are also tipped to visit Magnetic Island and Charters Towers and other ecotourism destinations as part of the event.
Townsville Enterprise Convention Bureau manager Dawn Combs estimated they would spend more than $900,000.
At the weekend, 100 members of the Australasian Society of Cardiovascular Perfusionists met for a convention at Jupiters Hotel and Casino.
Perfusionists operate the heart-lung machines during heart surgery.
Ms Combs said a conservative figure of more than $4 million had been injected into the region through Townsville Convention Bureau bid wins alone this year.
That includes delegates' expenditure on accommodation, shopping, transport, restaurants and cafes, domestic airfares, entertainment and tours.
"Research shows most delegates will return to holiday to a place they have been for business," she said.
"The rest of the population will absolutely benefit.
"There should be a spike in taxi fares and they will go to the mall to shop and visit pubs and restaurants."
Ms Combs said the bureau had hosted five familiarisation tours to Townsville for potential groups of convention organisers and professional conference organisers.
Townsville Enterprise estimates international delegates spend about $637 a day, national delegates spent $420, state delegates $363, and regional delegates $100 a day.
The ecotourism conference will bring expert speakers from the Asia Pacific region in a bid to tackle issues surrounding the ecotourism industry.
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