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The ties that bind us grow ever stronger

In Europe, Greece is teetering on the edge of pulling out (or being kicked out) of the Eurozone and the economies of Spain, Italy and France are looking extremely unhealthy, and in fact, only Germany seems to be immune from the gathering storm.
Coupled with a very slow recovery in the USA, the global economic outlook is bleak with share markets declining across the world and economic activity slowing down even more. Whilst the economies in both New Zealand and Australia cannot be said to be robust, in global terms they are positively blooming, and whilst interest rates are being cut in both countries, at least the Reserve Banks of both Australia and New Zealand do have room to move in terms of lowering the OCR (overnight cash rate) which has the effect of stimulating the local economy. Both New Zealand and Australia are increasingly being seen as "safe havens" for global economic investors and the mineral wealth of Australia still serves to act as a buffer against any unforeseen financial headwinds.
In convention and meetings terms, both Australia and New Zealand have a critical reliance on each other as major engine-room markets for their respective convention economies. New Zealand delivers a significant amount of convention business to Australia, and Australians provide over 60 per cent of all inbound convention business into New Zealand. I have long been an advocate of increased Trans-Tasman co-operation when it comes to international convention and incentive marketing, although this principle is easier in theory than in practice as each country has its own strategic objectives in trying to gain as much inbound tourism business as it can from the various source markets. However, I do believe that there is a lot more that could be done in terms of joint co-operation between Australia and New Zealand to engage with markets for the benefits of both countries. The Meetings Exhibition is a great example of how important the Australian market is to New Zealand with a significant majority of Hosted Buyers for the event originating in Australia. The business generated as a result of the Meetings Exhibition has been measured at well over NZ$30M and a large proportion of this originates from Australia. Not only do New Zealand and Australia have strong convention and other business links, there is also a long and proud history of joint co-operation in many spheres including military, political and trading activity. We will always be strong rivals on the sporting fields of the world but when it comes to hard times, especially economic hard times, it is great to know that both Australia and New Zealand have each other's backs and are doing comparatively well in comparison to the rest of the world. Long may it continue!