Sydney had secured major events valued at nearly $150 million since the Olympics, the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB) said today. The bureau said that was an increase of 71 per cent over the previous 12 month period.

SCVB managing director Jon Hutchison said a 19-event winning streak by the SCVB in the past four months had given the bureau a 65 per cent bid success rate - its highest in five years.

"Winning the right to hold these major events further seals Sydney's reputation as a global events capital and confirms the success of the SCVB and its members in converting this interest to business returns for the city," he said in a statement. He said 98 per cent of the events the SCVB won in 2000/2001 were international - the most lucrative to host.

"Meetings won this year (2000/2001) show delegates would stay longer in Sydney, an additional 64,000 days in total, which represents an increase of 37 per cent on last year - a welcome boost to Sydney's economy among its retail, accommodation, transport, restaurant amd tourism sectors," he said. Conference delegates spend more than nine times the amount of leisure tourists - $801 a day compared with $89.

NSW Tourism Minister Sandra Nori said Sydney's ability to attract international meetings had been boosted by the success of the Olympics. "Winning the right to hold these 19 major events confirms Sydney's international reputation for event management expertise, world class infrastructure and ability to attract top class conventions," she said.

The events include the World Congress of Neurology and the International Federation of the Societies for Surgery of the Hand congress.