Destination Gold Coast, in partnership with Tourism Australia, Tourism and Events Queensland and the City of Gold Coast, announced that Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) will be held on the Gold Coast from April 30 to May 4, 2023.
Some 2,000 delegates from all corners of the globe are set to meet at the event, which is said to be the biggest-ever in ATE’s history.
The first full programme event held since the pandemic, ATE 2023 will attract a host of leading travel decision makers and agents, airline executives, and over 70 international media representatives.
Destination Gold Coast CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said: “Securing Australia’s largest annual travel and tourism business-to-business event is an enormous coup for the city that will showcase the breadth and depth of Gold Coast’s venues, products and experiences.
“A key learning from Covid-19 is that it has radically disrupted the travel conversation and diversified the experiences people are looking to have.”
The five-day event is expected to inject A$9 million (US$6.3 million) into the local economy.
O’Callaghan added: “Hosting an event of this scale is not only important to supercharging Gold Coast’s international recovery, but the flow-on benefit through to our 10,000 tourism operators and small businesses from hoteliers to restaurants and cafés, and right through to retailers, experiences and transit providers.”
Minister for tourism, innovation and sport Stirling Hinchliffe stated that ATE is an important event for international tourism in Australia, and that the Gold Coast was the ideal destination to remind international buyers about Queensland’s world-class tourism experiences.
Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate said that for the city to once again host ATE is “a shot in the arm for our tourism industry and local economy”.
The Gold Coast last hosted ATE in 2016.
