Auckland has locked in three more years as the home of New Zealand’s largest business events trade show, with organisers confirming that MEETINGS will stay at the New Zealand International Convention Centre until 2029.
The decision was announced by Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA) at the official opening of MEETINGS 2026 on 16 June, when chief executive Lisa Hopkins told an audience of around 750 people that the showcase would remain anchored at the harbourside venue for the next three editions. For the city it means a guaranteed annual influx of high-spending buyers at the quietest point in the tourism calendar, and a vote of confidence in the convention precinct that opened only four months ago.
“Knowing that MEETINGS will be anchored at the NZICC means we can continue to ensure the trade show remains fresh and relevant,” Hopkins said. BEIA board chair Martin Snedden framed the move as a play for stability, telling Conference and Meetings World that “the board wanted to ensure MEETINGS continued to evolve and grow. Staying at the NZICC for the next three years establishes long-term continuity.” The show marks its 30th anniversary next year.
This year’s event runs from 16 to 18 June and brought more than 600 buyers together with over 250 exhibitors representing 18 regions, with roughly 6,000 pre-scheduled appointments and more than 1,500 people attending in total, according to Hospitality Business. At least half the buyers were attending for the first time, and 105 organisers and media crossed the Tasman from Australia with support from Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand. Buyers also travelled from Southeast Asia, China, India, Japan and North America.
The timing of the commitment matters for Auckland’s accommodation sector. The 715 million dollar NZICC opened in February and, alongside the adjoining SkyCity Grand, SkyCity Hotel and the new Horizon hotel, put more than 930 rooms within an airbridge walk of the exhibition floor. A run of new supply has followed, led by the 322-room Radisson RED on Lorne Street, Radisson Hotel Group’s first New Zealand property, while a 231-room DoubleTree by Hilton is under construction on Albert Street. Anchoring the country’s biggest business events show in the city gives those rooms a reliable winter booking each year, when leisure demand traditionally sags.
Business travellers are also worth chasing because they spend more and stay longer than holidaymakers. Research from BEIA and Fresh Info, reported by the New Zealand Herald, found multi-day business events delivered 925 million dollars to the national economy in 2025 and generated about 1.5 million visitor nights. International delegates spent an average of 645 dollars a day, well ahead of the roughly 417 dollars a day spent by the average overseas holidaymaker, and each international delegate was worth about 3,726 dollars across a visit. That high-value mix is exactly what a city full of new hotel rooms wants to capture.
The long-term deal lands as the wider tourism recovery keeps building. Stats NZ figures show 288,000 international visitors arrived in April, up 8 percent on the same month a year earlier, with arrivals from China surging 52 percent to more than 32,000 and overall numbers now sitting at roughly 93 percent of pre-pandemic levels. ASB senior economist Mark Smith told NZCity the trend was encouraging and that “the low New Zealand dollar is certainly helping” by making the country better value for offshore visitors.
For Auckland, securing MEETINGS until 2029 turns a one-off opening into a recurring fixture. It hands hotels, restaurants and venue operators three more winters of pre-booked, high-spending demand, and it cements the new convention centre as the anchor the city spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars building toward.
This article was contributed by Auckland Hotels, a comprehensive guide to accommodation in Auckland, New Zealand.
What do you make of Auckland’s bet on business events? Have your say in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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