Brisbane hasovertaken Sydney as the top destination of choice for international SMEs travelling to Australia.
According to the new data released by Corporate Traveller, the SME division of the Flight Centre Travel Group, more than 24 per cent of bookings into Australia were for the Sunshine State, rather than any of their interstate rivals, in the first nine months of the calendar year.
The data also reveals that Sydney was the number one arrivals point between 01 January and 30 September 2022, but in the same time period in 2023 Brisbane soared to the top of the list, with a 3.8 per cent margin.
Melbourne remained in third place in both years and made up the traditional ‘Golden Triangle’. In terms of industries travelling to the Sunshine State capital, manufacturing led the way, followed by services, construction, mining/oil/gas, and education.
Tom Walley, the Australia-based Global Managing Director of Corporate Traveller, said that Brisbane has been firmly placed on the map as one of the best places in the world for SMEs to do business.
“Ever since the Commonwealth Games visited the Gold Coast, investment in Brisbane has taken off exponentially, with more and more major domestic and international businesses choosing to move their operations and HQs to the Sunshine State capital,” Walley said. “It’s an incredibly exciting time for Brisbane with the city hosting the Games in 2032, the Queen’s Wharf development not too far away from completion and multiple bridges under construction that’ll boost connectivity across the city, it’s an exciting time on various fronts.
“Even more impressive is the huge year-on-year increase in travel to Brisbane by SMEs, with a jump of over 95 per cent, and that’s no coincidence that this has coincided with the rise of the ‘bleisure’ traveller who clearly wants to take advantage of all that Queensland has to offer while visiting,” Walley added.
Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff said that this latest data is good news for Queensland.
“This is clear evidence that companies globally are viewing Brisbane as a great place to do business, and a wonderful destination to visit,” de Graaff said. “Travel time from Asia, North America, and the South Pacific is shorter to Brisbane than Melbourne and Sydney. And, with Australia’s most connected domestic network, it’s easier for people from across the country to gather in Brisbane to meet overseas clients.”
