Senior executives from every major regional and international carrier in the Asia Pacific region were among 450 delegates to attend the first major business event to be held at The Star Brisbane since the venue opened earlier this month.

Virgin Australia’s Jayne Hrdlicka and Qantas International’s Cam Wallace headlined the program alongside international counterparts from Air India, Thai Airways, Air New Zealand, Vietjet, Delta Air and more.

The conference was an important opportunity for policy makers and industry representatives to analyse and respond to the Australian Government’s recently released Towards 2050 - Aviation White Paper, a series of proposals intended to ensure a safe, competitive, productive, and sustainable aviation sector.

Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA) CEO Anthony Ryan said the summit was an important event for the city’s visitor economy and international trade.

“One of Brisbane’s unique advantages is our proximity and connectivity in the region, and aviation routes act like critical arteries for our local economy,” Mr Ryan said.

 “Our international visitor economy is gaining ground, with new and expanding airline routes and growing aviation capacity fuelling the region's visitor economy. These new services are a major contributor to tourism, which was worth $10.6 billion to Brisbane last year.”

In some industry sectors, international exports out of Brisbane have grown up to seven times faster than the national average.

“Our recent State of the City Report showed that Brisbane’s economy is going to boom by 68% to 2041, and one of the key drivers of that is our exports growth,” Mr Ryan said.

“As Australia’s closest major capital to East Asia, Brisbane is Australia’s gateway to the Asia Pacific, the world’s economic engine.”

BEDA General Manager Tourism, Business and Major Events, Lorelle Chittick, said Brisbane was a fitting host for the CAPA Summit.

“The Star now houses Brisbane’s newest event centre, so it’s very appropriate that it hosts this Summit for an industry which drives so much tourism and business visitation for our city.”

“Brisbane’s hotel and venue offering, coupled with our thriving lifestyle precincts and world-class conference infrastructure, offer an unparalleled delegate experience. BEDA and our tourism, hospitality and experience delivery partners are working hard to secure conferences and incentives to create win-win opportunities for event organisers and local businesses alike.”

Last year Brisbane secured 90 significant conferences and business events, worth more than AUD$100 million for the city.

In an acknowledgement that flight connectivity is a catalyst for economic growth, BEDA and Brisbane Airport partnered in 2019 to launch an Enhanced Destination Marketing Program, pooling resources to stimulate inbound visitation from North America and Southeast Asia. BEDA also invests in a destination marketing resource in China. Additionally, the Queensland Government’s Attracting Aviation Investment Fund has allocated AUD$100 million towards securing direct international flights.

Initiatives like these have seen a multitude of international airlines announce new direct routes into Brisbane over recent years, including United Airlines (BNE-SFO), American Airlines (BNE-LAX, BNE-DFW), Delta Air (BNE-LAX), JetStar Airways (BNE-NRT, BNE-KIX) and Qantas Airways (BNE-MNL).

Brisbane Airport took the opportunity of the first day of the Summit to reveal planned renovations to its International Terminal, designed to upgrade the airport’s check-in, arrivals, baggage system, security and retail experience.

CAPA (Centre for Aviation) is one of the world’s most trusted sources of market intelligence for the aviation and travel industry. The CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific gathers industry leaders and decision makers from across the Asia Pacific and beyond. The two-day summit combines aviation industry analysis and knowledge with thought leadership. This instance of the Summit hosted by Brisbane Airport Corporation and Brisbane Economic Development Agency.

Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA) is the city’s official Convention Bureau, securing and supporting conferences and incentives to create successful and enduring outcomes for event organisers and local businesses alike.