The Auckland Business Events Fund (ABEF) allows Auckland Convention Bureau (ACB) to offer financial support at the critical bidding stage, to help secure national and international business events to the city.
The New Zealand Government and Auckland Convention Bureau are dedicated to supporting business events that bring people together to exchange knowledge and ideas, strengthen relationships, attract investment and talent flows, and create new jobs for the people of Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.
To be considered for funding, your business event must:
- not yet be confirmed to take place in Auckland
- be considered an ‘eligible business event.’ This includes conferences, conventions, symposiums, congresses, meetings, B2C tradeshows and incentive travel programmes
- have an event start date through to 30 June 2024
- attract out of region attendees (criteria to be discussed at the time of application)
A business events’ suitability for support will be assessed against a number of criteria, including but not limited to:
- the ability to drive visitation to Auckland
- the extent to which the business event supports regional yield and dispersal
- whether the business event aligns to Auckland’s economic priority sectors
- the events’ opportunity for future growth or to act as a catalyst to bid for future international business event(s)
For more information, or to discuss funding support opportunities for your business event, please contact the ACB team by emailing businessevents@aucklandnz.com
More information about the REF:
The Auckland Business Events Fund is part of the Government’s $50 million Regional Events Fund (REF) which aims to stimulate domestic tourism by supporting existing events to continue to operate or supporting new events to form. It is designed to stimulate travel between regions through holding events, supporting the tourism and events sector, and helping to replace some of the spend lost from international tourists due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, visit the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website (MBIE).
The Auckland Business Events Fund, available through REF support, allows for funding that will be used to focus on developing, securing and/or enhancing new and existing business events for Auckland that ensure economic benefit to the region is maximised and the region’s assets and venues are optimised, whilst also encouraging out-of-region visitation.
Applications will be assessed based on economic, social and sustainability criteria, with weighting towards the economic benefit that business events bring, replacing the loss of international visitation and assisting to create opportunities for exposure of Auckland’s key sector industries and industry advocates – aided by the procurement of confirmed business events that help to grow Auckland’s profile both nationally and internationally.