Sydney events record

Business Events Sydney (BESydney) is closing out 2025 securing the greatest number of future events in a calendar year in the company’s 55-year history. 

During record-breaking calendar year, the business events bidding specialists secured 81 business events that will attract around 59,000 delegates, staying 253,000 days and generating more $252 million in future direct expenditure to Australia’s gateway city.

BESydney CEO Amanda Lampe acknowledged her expert team and extraordinary public and private sector partnerships that contributed to the achievement. “We are going into 2026 with the best outlook for Sydney’s business events forward calendar in the company’s history.”

“These events are a fantastic stimulus for the New South Wales Government’s new Visitor Economy Strategy 2035 in which business events were enshrined for the first time as a key driver of economic growth for the state”, Ms Lampe added.

“Not only do these events support the visitor economy and jobs across the tourism and hospitality sector, but they are also a powerhouse for innovation, trade, investment and skilled talent attraction across a wide cross-section the economy from advanced manufacturing and AI through to universities and scientific research.

“We look forward to further push these records in 2026, particularly with the rapid increase in Sydney’s global air connectivity with the 24-hour Western Sydney International Airport opening in 2026 and Sydney Airport’s exciting expansion plans. 

“There’s some fantastic big name hotel brands and an array of new experiences coming online. We’re also going to be dramatically stepping up our business development and marketing efforts locally and across the globe in the coming year, including the very exciting announcement last month that we will be partnering with Tourism Australia to host their signature incentive showcase, Australia Next in 2027. 

BESydney collaborates with international and local professional and scientific associations, event specialists and government stakeholders to win high-profile association conferences and corporate events for Sydney. A selection of this year’s bid wins include: 

• International Labour and Employment Relations Association World Congress 2027 over 5 days, with 1,000 delegates and an estimated direct expenditure of $4 million.
• World Hydropower Congress 2027 over 3 days, with 700 delegates and an estimated direct expenditure of $2.6 million.
• Asia-Pacific Circular Hotspot 2026, over 3 days with 400 delegates and an estimated direct expenditure of $865k.
• IEEE World Congress on Services 2026, over 4 days with 500 delegates and an estimated direct expenditure of $2.8 million.
• Allianz Life Indonesia Annual Agency Incentive 2026, over 1,000 delegates and an estimated direct expenditure of $6 million.

The prior record year was 2019 when BESydney secured events that generated $249.8 million in direct expenditure for New South Wales.