Brisbane wins hat trick of academic conferences

The Brisbane Convention Bureau and University of Queenland's School of Languages and Cultures secured a trifecta of conferences worth over A$2.1 million (US$1.53 million) for the city's economy.

The events are the 9th International Conference on Intercultural Pragmatics and Communication (INPRA) in June 2020; the 6th Biennial Colloquium of the Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU) in November 2021; and the 6^th International Conference on Conversation Analysis (ICCA) in July 2022.

All three conferences combined are expected to attract over 800 delegates across 11 event days. Juliet Alabaster, general manager, Brisbane Convention Bureau, said partnering with academics and industry professionals has been a key strategy of the bureau.

“That is one reason why we launched the Lord Mayor’s Convention Trailblazer Grant, which is so far supporting seven local researchers and professionals to attend leading international conferences to help us and our partners attract future rotations to Brisbane," said Alabaster.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk pointed out that business events won by the bureau delivered over A$96 mil (US$70 mil) in economic impact to the city in the last financial year. 

“Every business event that flows into Brisbane supports our tourism and hospitality businesses including hotels, restaurants, service providers and retailers,” he said.