 
Eighty-five million dollars might sound like a lot of money, but when you’re competing with the rest of the world to win events business it really isn’t much at all.
That’s the amount of money Events New South Wales has to play with over the next three years. But how many events will that really “buy”?
According to the body’s CEO, Geoff Parmenter, not a lot. Case in point is the FIFA Club World Cup. This is a competition between championship teams from the six continental conferations which includes Europe, the UK and South America. FIFA – the Fédération Internationale de Football Association – is the world governing body of football, or as we know it in Australia, soccer.
FIFA’s asking price for a country hosting the next available FIFA Club World Cup in 2009 was $25 million.
“The United Arab Emirates came along and put $45 million on the table,” Mr Parmenter said.
He adds that he wasn’t disappointed that NSW did not have a showing, believing that the event did not fit the Events New South Wales criteria. Having said that, this is as good an example as any of the level of competition on the international scene for events.
Events that Events New South Wales will bid for must enhance the reputations of Sydney and New South Wales as great destinations and must also prove that they can deliver long-term returns – economically, strategically and in terms of city or regional marketing, and to the community.
Of the FIFA Club World Cup Mr Parmenter said they valued the event – taking into account the overall Events New South Wales strategy – at around $2 million. That is, they would not bid any more for this event, and so the UAE will host the event for the following two years.
“It’s not the kind of money that they have in Abu Dhabi but $85 million over the first three years isn’t small change either,” Mr Parmenter says.
“One of the things that we’re starting to recognise is that it doesn’t make sense for us to buy expensive sporting events from around the world. What does make sense is to work with existing events and leverage off those.”
This is in line with Events New South Wales’ charter to assist in the wellbeing of the state as a whole – to help drive new money into the state.
The recent FIFA Congress held in Sydney is a good case in point. Two or three events were built into this program, each leveraging off the other, including a sports-related conference that was shifted to Sydney from New Zealand so that it was held at the same time as the FIFA Congress. It also gave FIFA attendees the opportunity to experience Sydney because, as Mr Parmenter says, Football Federation Australia has shown some interest in mounting a bid for Australia to host the World Cup in 2018.
“There’s a little bit of dust being sprinkled on that one,” he adds.
“One of the events we are [currently] partnering with is the Rosemount Australian Fashion Week.
About $30 or $40 million worth of business – export dollars - gets written at this event.”
The other key driver is brand marketing opportunities that stem from events.
“We want to tie into events that promote Sydney and New South Wales.”
The value to the community as a whole is another key driver, including greater New South Wales and not just Sydney.
The other good news with the formation of Events New South Wales is that now there is a body ready and willing to help creative people bring their ideas to fruition, provided they make sense of course.
“We’re in the market for big ideas. There are some guidelines on our website now that are designed to filter out events that don’t meet the criteria that we’re after.
“If you believe that your company has something to offer then by all means contact us.”
Part of the strategy is heavily swayed towards the meetings sector. Events New South Wales believes that many existing events have the potential to grow and provide more return on investment by attracting meetings or conferences to coincide with the main event.
For further details visit www.eventsnewsouthwales.com.au.
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