The LAND FORCES 2018 Exposition has broken attendance, exhibitor and delegation records, organisers say.
The three-day event, held at the Adelaide Convention Centre over September 4-6, combined a defence industry trade show featuring 624 exhibitors alongside Defence and Army conferences, and technical and scientific seminars and symposia.
It attracted a record total combined attendance of 15,331 visitors over the period of the event, up from 13,450 for LAND FORCES 2016, event organisers Industry Defence and Security Australia Limited said on Wednesday.
“LAND FORCES 2018 is unique in the region as a platform for engagement and exchange of ideas between Army, Defence, government, academia and industry, in the national interest,” LAND FORCES 2018 chief executive officer Ian Honnery said.
“All indications are that LAND FORCES 2018 excelled in its main goals of enabling that engagement and of promoting Australian industry to the world, by bringing the world to Australia.”
The event saw a 30 per cent increase in total exhibition space over the 2016 event, with 624 participating exhibitor companies (including 328 Australian SMEs) up from 501 exhibitor companies in 2016, while the 21 conferences, seminars and symposia, including the Chief of Army Land Seminar, compared to 11 similar events in 2016.
There were also 74 defence, trade and industry delegations from 36 countries (up from 66 in 2016), including 31 foreign military delegations and 19 Australian military delegations.