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Championing Adelaide’s Economic Growth for Four Years: AEDA Makes a Solid Impact in the City
The Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA) is celebrating four years of supporting Adelaide’s economic growth.
Founded in 2021 amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Agency, a subsidiary of the City of Adelaide, has played a crucial role in driving growth and activity within the city.
Its initiatives have included dining vouchers, attracting investment and jobs, creating top-tier events like ADL Fashion Week, and supporting international education and business events.
As a result, the city now boasts more jobs, higher retail activity, and increased visitor numbers compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Outgoing AEDA Chair Nikki Govan says the Agency has had many achievements, adding that its collaboration with private enterprise has played an important role in its success.
“AEDA is a strong organisation and it really shows what (Local) Government can do when it partners with the private sector,” Ms Govan says.
"All partners and leading players are very important to AEDA and with the team that is working here and the Board, we can just get things done.
“I think it is fair to say that we are so well-placed, and we have a council and elected members who are really, really supportive and are behind us.”
AEDA was formed on 18 January 2021 as a Section 42 Subsidiary of the City of Adelaide (CoA) under the Local Government Act 1999 (SA) following a council decision to accelerate economic growth.
It is led by a skills-based Board and operates under a Charter that guides the organisation and its affairs.
The Agency also incorporates the management of Adelaide’s premier shopping precinct, Rundle Mall.
AEDA General Manager Greg Ratsch says the city continues to strengthen its reputation as a vibrant and creative space for visitors, workers and residents alike under AEDA’s guidance.
“AEDA is designed to make Adelaide a great place to do business and visit as well,” Mr Ratsch says.
“The city still has many challenges, but it has many opportunities as well.”
Look back at highlights from the four years, and what to expect going forward.
Business & Investment
The popular view during COVID-19 was that CBD locations, including Adelaide, would decrease in importance as economic centres of activity.
However, the opposite occurred, with record office space leased, more people working in the city and more actively trading businesses located across the City of Adelaide.
AEDA’s Business & Investment Team provided a concierge service for a long list of firms considering a city location.
More than 16 businesses employing over 927 staff were supported to make the City their home as part of the Welcome to Adelaide program.
Significant accomplishments since AEDA’s inception include the introduction of the AEDA Business Summit in 2022 and, soon after, the insightful Data4Lunch short information briefings.
The dissemination of data and insights remains an important function of the unit, with Interactive Economic Dashboards now readily available on aedasa.com.au to provide visual insights for businesses and investors.
The team has also delivered initiatives to support the growth of the video gaming sector as well as provided funding to _SOUTHSTART, ThincLab and MTP Connect to accelerate the growth of high potential businesses in their infancy.
Other initiatives included a new Strategic Partnership Program, designed to support early-stage, innovative businesses that could be Adelaide’s unicorns of the future.
Festivals & Events
Adelaide is renowned across the country as ‘The Festival State’, and AEDA plays a key role in helping maintain that reputation.
In just four years, the Events and Festivals Sponsorship team has supported 147 events, investing more than $8,352,000 in funding on behalf of the City of Adelaide.
The impact of these investments is significant, with event organisers estimating a close to $1.3 billion economic impact, providing a huge return on each dollar invested.
Supported events include the Santos Tour Down Under, The Garden of Unearthly Delights, CheeseFest, Adelaide Fringe and Adelaide Polo Classic.
The Agency also continues to provide support for Business Events Adelaide. Looking forward, there is more than $1 billion worth of business events that have been secured until 2030, with a further $1.5 billion worth of realistic opportunities in the pipeline during that period.
Applications for the current round of the Commercial Events and Festivals Sponsorship Program are under assessment, with a share of $300,000 in funding available to applicants.
The Events and Sponsorship Program major round will open soon, allowing applicants to request funding for up to three years.
Marketing
The AEDA Marketing team has positioned the city as a top place to live, work, and play, putting the spotlight on local businesses and highlighting hidden gems through strong, high-impact campaigns.
Kicking off a long line of campaigns was Go to Town as a means of encouraging people to return to the city and support local traders following COVID-19 lockdowns.
AEDA partnered with the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC), South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC), and Property Council of Australia’s SA Division to deliver initiatives such as FOMO Fridays—a series of events and activations to encourage CBD workers to return to work from the office on Fridays.
As the need to support businesses continued, the $30 Eats campaign came to light, with both the State Government and City of Adelaide allocating $250,000, in the first iteration, to fund $30 towards 25,000 diners’ City experiences.
As a result, $1.2 million went into city businesses, representing a 2:1 return on investment.
Campaigns such as these, coupled with listings about what to see, do or experience in the city, have been housed on ExperienceAdelaide.com.au, which is consistently generating leads for businesses and event organisers.
ADL Fashion Week, which had its inaugural year in 2022, was developed to support the city’s fashion and creative industries, which are a significant economic driver in the city.
The event, which last year boasted its biggest program and attendance numbers, also had an increased spotlight on ethical fashion to showcase the city's growing appetite for eco-friendly manufacturing and circular fashion.
ADL Fashion Week is set to return for the fourth time in 2025.
The boundaries about the perception of Adelaide continued to be pushed with the ‘See for Yourself’ campaign, which started in 2024 and is in market again in 2025.
The campaign aims to break the perception that “Adelaide is boring” and promotes a wide range of businesses and events.
Blue North research via SATC confirmed that "the ads created excitement and pride and sparked interest to experience what Adelaide has to offer" across the target audience.
Visitor Economy
The Visitor Economy team has flown high with a string of wins, cementing Adelaide as the place for local, interstate and international guests.
From city trails linked to major events to providing stakeholders up-to-date information about the everchanging industry, its successes have skyrocketed Adelaide's cultural and tourism appeal.
The team’s impact can be felt as soon as guests arrive in Adelaide, with its band of more than 60 volunteers assisting as greeters or running the Visitor Information Centre to make tourists’ experiences enjoyable.
The Visitor Information Centre has serviced more than 132,000 visitors over the past 4 years, meanwhile the Adelaide Greeters program was awarded the TripAdvisor 2024 Travellers’ Choice award.
The Greeters program is in the top 10 per cent of more than 1.6 million listings on the website.
As the city continued to boost its name as a top Australian destination, in 2023 the team collaborated with SATC as part of a push to get more hotel bookings.
An additional 35,264 room nights worth more than $7 million was achieved.
Meanwhile, the team also assisted 20 local businesses in creating new, bookable tourism products and experiences, expanding Adelaide’s range of offerings and strengthening the city’s reputation as a must-visit destination.
More than 65 city businesses were supported as part of the citywide WellFest Adelaide festival in 2021 and 2022, focusing on Adelaide’s unique connections to wellbeing, nature, food and First Nations culture.
Wider destination marketing campaigns included creating city trails for the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) and the Botanic Garden of South Australia for the Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution and Chihuly in the Botanic Garden exhibitions respectively, supporting more than 70 businesses.
Rundle Mall
With a record 54 million visits in one financial year and a bustling atmosphere, Rundle Mall continues to be Adelaide’s go-to shopping destination.
From the opening of new flagship stores like The Hour Glass and RM Williams to the highly anticipated Rundle Place Food Precinct and $125 million revamp of Adelaide Central Plaza on the cards, the precinct is renowned for being Adelaide’s premier shopping precinct.
Shoppers flock to the Mall, which currently has the lowest vacancy of any pedestrian mall nationwide, not just for retail, but also for the events, dining, and the evolving range of experiences on offer.
Rundle Mall delivers more than 350 events, festivals, and activations annually, with highlights including Lunar New Year, MallFest, AFL Gather Round, Urban Kitchen, Winter in Rundle Mall, Black Friday, and Boxing Day.
Revitalisation projects such as the $1.5 million James Place upgrade are set to commence, as more flagship stores join the ranks.
Archies Arcade, incorporating Hotel Hijinx and Funlab, has added a fresh flair to the precinct, while Sportsgirl’s impending return to the Mall and other major brands are on the horizon.
Consumer spending across the city hit $2.57 billion in 2024, with Rundle Mall accounting for 57 per cent of all retail spending.
It took home the 2021 National Retailers Association Retail Precinct of the Year accolade and the 2023 Shopping Centre Council Australia Marketing Award for Compelling Experiences (Multi-Centre) for South Australia’s biggest Black Friday Weekend.
The Rundle Mall brand is currently undergoing a new brand and marketing strategy, which will set Rundle Mall up for even greater success in the future.
Going Forward
AEDA is proud to continue to support Adelaide businesses, with its Board recently developing a strategic plan to help guide its operations.
Ms Govan will finish her four-year term with AEDA on January 20, with property, business leader and entrepreneur Steve Maras taking the reins.
Visit these links for an overview of the Strategic Plan and 2021, 2021/22, 2022/23 or 2023/24 annual reports.