Sustained tourism outcomes from major event suggest a fruitful marriage between a government’s stated purposes of event investment, its institutional structures to foster event and tourism; and the roles played by public sector event development agencies (inside and alongside government). This qualitative study across six Australian states/territories highlights how government interest in tourism alongside other event impacts, differing organisational arrangements for event tourism and varying roles of public sector event agencies impact on event tourism strategy. It confirms the importance of seven public sector influences on event tourism, of which the budgetary controls and performance measures of event agencies were primary concerns. Among three different institutional structures for event tourism identified in this study, merged organisational arrangements (combining tourism and event bodies) and mixed arrangements (several bodies of an independent and merged nature) appear to provide the optimal environment for event tourism strategy development. The paper advocates periodic reviews of a state/territory’s institutional structures for stimulating event tourism including the degree of emphasis given by agencies to the four strategy arenas of event acquisition, creation, development and tourism marketing. It also suggests periodic reflection on the continued relevance and impact of the seven public sector influences on event tourism identified in this research