Dunedin has attracted conferences in just the last three months that will bring about $1.5 million to the local economy, and has applied for three more that could bring another $3.8 million.
The latest conference in the bag is a seven-day 300-delegate conference coming to the Otago Museum and the University of Otago in 2018, with an estimated economic benefit of $630,000.
The conferences so far should mean about 4000 delegate days - the number of days each delegate will spend in Dunedin - and potential conferences could bring about 11,000.
Enterprise Dunedin business events adviser Bree Jones said the conferences and applications had come in the period since Enterprise Dunedin and Tourism New Zealand met University of Otago representatives to explain government funding available to help attract conferences.
"It shows there is a really strong appetite and willingness from academics and thought leaders to put themselves, the university and the city on a global stage, which is really exciting,'' she said.
"The continued collaborative approach is proving to be a winning formula for the city.''
Dunedin had applied for three conferences, including one worth $2.1 million that would attract 1000 delegates and that the city had a good chance of getting, and another worth $1.4 million with 600 delegates.
The museum and the university had recently been confirmed as host of the 2018 conference of the Society of the Preservation of Natural History Collections together with the Taxonomic Database Working Group.
The conference would host about 300 delegates, about 250 from overseas.
Museum collections, research and education director Robert Morris travelled to Berlin last month to pitch his submission.
He said yesterday the conference was for people responsible for the care and documentation of natural history collections and for the dissemination of information about them.
The museum would be the primary venue for the conference, with the university providing conference venues, break-out rooms and laboratories.
Mr Morris said the two organisations had never held a conference in the southern hemisphere before.
"We felt there was a real opportunity to develop an Oceania chapter by attracting people from Australasia and Southeast Asia.
"That was what was of interest to them.''
Tourism New Zealand helped put the proposal together and assisted with travel to Berlin to "spruik the project''.
Mr Morris said he was able to demonstrate Dunedin was able to host conferences efficiently and had the right infrastructure, from hotels to tours.
American delegates had approached him after his presentations to tell him New Zealand was on their bucket list and the conference would be a great opportunity to visit the country.
That meant there would be benefits to tourism outside the conference itself.
Two questions that sparked concerns were distance and cost of travel.
But Mr Morris said he compared the distance from San Francisco to Berlin, a flight of about 12 hours, and San Francisco to New Zealand, about 15 hours.
"It wasn't such a big difference.''
Another concern for some was that Dunedin winters were "incredibly bitter and dreadful''.
Mr Morris said he found that "particularly amusing'' considering how cold winters in parts of North America could be, but he had provided temperature charts to allay their concerns.
He said the conference would "really put the museum and the university on the global map in terms of natural history collections''.
Conferences confirmed
• Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections and Taxonomic Databases Working Group joint conference, 2018, 300 delegates, value to Dunedin economy $630,000.
• The 54th World Congress of the International Sociology of Sport Association, 2019, 300 delegates, value $525,000.
• Genetics Society of Australasia Conference, 2017, 150 delegates, $200,000.
• Australasian Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance Conference, 2017, 100 delegates, value $130,000.
Total: About 4000 delegate days and an estimated $1.5million to Dunedin economy.
