The city is hosting more conferences, large meetings and other business events than it has for years.
Forsyth Barr Stadium and the refurbished Dunedin Centre, which comprised the town hall, Glenroy Auditorium and several conference and meeting rooms, were attracting event organisers, Tourism Dunedin chief executive Hamish Saxton said.
The Edgar Centre and Larnach Castle were also catering for an increasing number of corporate activities, he said.
The lack of facilities in Christchurch meant some business events had moved south to Dunedin, and that was likely to remain the case until at least 2017, when the proposed Christchurch convention centre and associated infrastructure was built, Mr Saxton said.
While the proposed Queenstown conference centre remained just that - a proposal - Dunedin would be seen as the best location for business events in the South, he said.
Mr Saxton attended the corporate event sector's largest annual conference in Auckland recently, with representatives of Dunedin Venues Management Ltd, Larnach Castle and the Edgar Centre.
The symposium, called Meetings, was a gathering of national and international conference organisers and business event delegates.
It was a chance to promote Dunedin's facilities, and directly resulted in confirmation Dunedin would host at least seven large corporate events in the next 18 months, Mr Saxton said.
''It was really successful. We had excellent feedback and a lot of people we spoke to said this is Dunedin's time. Dunedin is comfortably able to bid for events involving up to 700 people; we have no problems pitching for business from large or small groups.''
Delegates liked being able to walk between corporate venues and their accommodation, as well as shops and eateries.
''They like Dunedin because the city is compact in nature and it's still considered to be a destination that's a bit different,'' Mr Saxton said.
Corporate tourists typically spent more per day than recreational visitors and often created additional business while at events, he said.
''One of the important things with business events is the actual knowledge exchange and the potential to bring like minds together to consider further research or business opportunities. Dunedin does so well in that regard with its education sector.''
This week, more than 250 delegates will be in Dunedin for the Quarry New Zealand annual conference at the Dunedin Centre, and hundreds more for the Registered Master Builders annual conference at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
