ITS World Congress has a bigger than expected impact on Melbourne’s economy

The 23rd World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, in Melbourne, has had a bigger than expected economic impact on the local economy and is now estimated to be US$34.5 million (AU$46.6 million), nearly twice the initial projection. The increase has been attributed to the higher than anticipated attendance figures. More than 11,500 Australian and international delegates participated, 4,500 registrations more than the target figure of 7,000. The high volume of visitors had a positive impact on the loca
May 15, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The 23rd World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, in Melbourne, has had a bigger than expected economic impact on the local economy and is now estimated to be US$34.5 million (AU$46.6 million), nearly twice the initial projection.


The increase has been attributed to the higher than anticipated attendance figures. More than 11,500 Australian and international delegates participated, 4,500 registrations more than the target figure of 7,000. The high volume of visitors had a positive impact on the local economy with benefits felt, in particular, across hotels, transport companies, restaurants and places of interest. The state of Victoria also benefited, with many visitors opting to make additional trips to regional Victoria and interstate.

Delivering the 6456 ITS World Congress to Melbourne was a collaborative effort, involving many partners including the Victorian Government, Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) and the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).

The ITS World Congress showcased Melbourne’s multi modal transport network, taking more than 650 delegates to key air, sea, road, train, tram and freight centres. Albert Park’s internationally-recognised Formula One track was one of multiple locations for 3,500 booked live vehicle technology demonstrations. Almost 250 plenary, executive, special interest, scientific and technical sessions, 278 exhibiting partners, a hackathon and the student and public community projects were held at the MCEC.

Related Content

  • December 1, 2020
    Australia invests $20m in e-bus trials
    Victoria’s first e-bus has saved 61 tonnes of CO2 emissions
    Read More
  • March 27, 2015
    Australia’s Transurban to trial road user charging
    Speaking at a major industry forum, Scott Charlton, CEO of Australian toll roads operator, Transurban, said that the country’s major cities risk a decline in liveability without major investment in transport systems and an overhaul of transport funding model. Charlton said that despite significant progress by state governments traditional funding systems were outdated, unsustainable and unfair, and cannot sustain the funding needed to address Australia’s transport infrastructure deficit. Charlton said it
    Read More
  • February 2, 2012
    FLIPPER - improving the provision of flexible transport services
    John Nelson and Brian Masson, Centre for Transport Research, University of Aberdeen, UK, describe the FLIPPER initiative which is intended to improve the provision of flexible transport services
    Read More
  • October 10, 2016
    Hackathon success at ITS World Congress
    As the 2016 ITS World Congress was opening its doors, hacking trio Hong Yew, Ram Kanagaratnam and Kyle Mantesso of team Geolicious were collecting the AU$10,000 first prize in the ITS 2016 Mastercard Smart Cities Hackathon. the first ITS Smart City Hack was designed to encourage collaboration and innovative thinking and was the largest event of its kind in Australia. Total prize money of AU$20,000 enticed 16 teams of Australia’s most talented developers, designers and entrepreneurs to enter the two-day e
    Read More

Highlighted Content