Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand has maintained spectacular conference market growth, with an eight percent increase in conference numbers and a 24 per cent increase in delegate numbers for the first quarter of the 2006 financial year (July to September), compared with first quarter 2005. Manager of the Christchurch and Canterbury Convention Bureau (CCCB), Annette Pendergast (pictured left), said the first quarter was traditionally the busiest business tourism period. “This exceptional first quarter is a promising indication of a solid year ahead as we cater for a larger number of conferences. Most importantly, large international associations are choosing to hold their conventions in Christchurch.” In November 2006 1500 delegates attended the International Continence Conference, bringing at least $2.5 million to the city over five days. In 2007 Christchurch is booked to stage several major international events including the World Seed Congress in May, Evolutions in June with 1000 delegates, followed by the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Convention in late June. Christchurch recorded 699 conferences during 2005-2006, with the average length of stay longer and the number of delegates higher than ever before. A delegate rebate scheme, launched late last year, has been successful in attracting many large conferences to Christchurch. Already 31 applications have been approved, contributing more than $13 million of new conference business to Christchurch, and over 26,000 accommodation room nights.
A big first year has vindicated Tourism Malaysia’s decision to create a business tourism division in Australia to market Malaysia as a MICE destination. It was a wise move, according to Tourism Malaysia’s general manager - Victoria and Tasmania and business tourism, Peter Power. “We have created a profile for Malaysia as a MICE destination and won significant MICE business opportunities,” he said. Early, the new Melbourne office organised a conference for 650 delegates in Kuala Lumpur and then won a conference for 380 delegates ex-Melbourne and another for 1000 delegates ex-Sydney. Also in the first year the business tourism office hosted 40 PCOs on Malaysia familiarisations. “Our level of effort is probably best recognised by Tourism Malaysia winning the multi-site stand award at AIME this year,” he said. “We’re here to do business … Malaysia has excellent product for leisure and MICE, Tasmania and Victoria is a market warranting special attention and Melbourne has double daily flights with Malaysia Airlines so there is easy access.” A key focus of the office has been promotion of Visit Malaysia Year 2007 which will mark Malaysia’s 50th anniversary of independence from Great Britain. Fifty events are calendared for the celebrations.
The city of Melbourne will run Australia’s first television advertising campaign in Asia to generate conventions for Melbourne. Victoria Minister for Tourism, John Pandazopoulos said Melbourne is Australia’s undisputed leader in sporting, cultural and major events, and the city intends to continue growing its share of events. The campaign is an initiative of the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB) who, together with partners the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre (MECC), will launch the television campaign in early 2007. This is a first for the bureau and the convention centre. The campaign consists of more than 300, 30 second TV spots on BBC World running over a four week period. It will be seen by close to one million key corporate decision makers. Viewers will see the television commercials in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore, Taipei, India, Seoul, Sydney and Tokyo. The television advertising campaign will also be supported by an online campaign on BBCWorld.com.
Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) has announced its seminar programme for AIME 2007, being held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre on February 13 and 14, 2006. The programme includes the popular Business Events Forums and the AIME Business Events Success Series of seminars. The AIME Business Events Forums will be held on both mornings of AIME prior to the exhibition opening. The first day’s forum will feature a panel of international industry professionals who will examine major issues impacting the global and local industry. Panel participants include Patricia Durocher, managing director, HelmsBriscoe International; Martin Sirk, CEO, ICCA; and Sandra Chipchase, CEO, Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau. The second day will include four case studies of major events from around the globe, presented by the organisers themselves. The AIME Business Events Success Series comprises six seminars, three on each day of AIME 2007 and is expected to appeal particularly to the corporate market. Subjects include: 60 Minutes of Special Event Ideas; Big Ideas for Big Events; The How and Why of Incentives (SITE); Choosing the Right Venue; Getting the Right Price (MEA); Emerging Destinations; and Planning an Incentive Programme that Delivers. For further information on the AIME Business Events Forum and Business Events Success Series visit the AIME website: www.aime.com.au
There are four times as many mobile phones as there are PCs in the world. Have you ever considered what happens when these mobile devices are used to browse the Internet? Or even better: to visit your website? In the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA) Mobile Internet Guide you will find some useful tips on what you could do yourself with Mobile Internet. It gives a selection of various mobile websites that could assist in your daily work (news, weather forecasts, currency converters, etc.). The guide also gives you ideas on how your organisation can make your website mobile phone accessible. Visit the new ICCA Mobile website icca.mobi with your mobile phone. If you are not sure how to use the web-function on your mobile phone you can SMS the word icca to +31 6 4250 0150 and you will receive an SMS message containing a link. Selecting the link will open up your phone’s internet browser and the main menu of icca.mobi will be displayed. Icca.mobi contains a listing of the mobile website links listed in the Mobile Internet Guide, so definitely bookmark icca.mobi on your mobile phone or PDA!
IMEX recently announced a significant growth in the numbers of hosted buyers expected to travel to IMEX ‘07 from Australia, China, India and the US in particular. The award-winning exhibition for the international meetings, incentive travel and conference industry has expanded its long-haul hosting program through a considerable increase in the number of intermediaries who will be bringing groups from these markets; at the same time as developing its already-strong presence among European hosted buyers. The continued strength of its partnership with official airline, Lufthansa, is reflected in a total of 85 international gateways – up from 62 - now being used to fly hosted buyers to IMEX from around the world. Of these, 15 will fly out of the USA, which further consolidates IMEX’s foothold in this strategically important market. For 2007, exhibitors from around the world have already confirmed their commitment by booking more space, demonstrating the global appeal of the exhibition. IMEX begins on April 17, 2007 in Frankfurt.
Visit www.imex-frankfurt.com for further details.
The 45th ICCA Congress & Exhibition, which took place at the Sofitel Capsis Hotel & Convention Centre ‘Marika Capsis 2000’ in Rhodes, Greece in late October and early November, 2006 was ICCA’s most successful gathering ever. There was a record-breaking attendance of 826 delegates from 68 countries, which included a record number of 287 first time attendees. A record number of 142 ICCA members participated in the business exchange, sharing detailed information on major international association conferences they have recently hosted or organised. The ICCA General Assembly, the ICCA Chapter and category meetings and the education programme formed a frantically busy programme of 78 sessions in five days, supplemented by many unofficial meetings.
The Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau has appointed exhibition hire firm Moreton Hire to handle its trade show requirements for the next two years. Moreton Hire will be responsible for the design and construction of the SCVB’s stands at a range of shows including Dreamtime, AIME and the SCVB’s Melbourne Roadshow. It will also oversee the SCVB’s stand at the organisation’s new show, the Australian Events Expo, which debuts in Sydney in May 2007. Announcing the move, SCVB managing director Jon Hutchison, said the organisation was delighted to have a strong industry partner to support the SCVB in its trade activities. “Moreton Hire’s appointment will ensure that the SCVB and its members portray a consistent and professional image at trade shows, which is important for Sydney’s profile,” he said. Established more than 30 years ago, Moreton Hire is one of Australia’s largest exhibition and event providers.
Australia ranks as the top overall country brand, according to the second annual Country Brand Index 2006 (CBI) released in London at the World Travel Market, the premier annual exhibition of the global travel trade. The United States and Italy ranked second and third, respectively. The CBI identifies countries as brands and emerging global travel trends in the world’s fastest-growing economic sector - travel and tourism. This sector accounts for more than one in every 11 jobs worldwide. The CBI also identified China, Croatia and the United Arab Emirates as the top three “rising star” countries – those likely to be major tourism destinations in the next five years. For further details
visit www.countrybrandindex.com.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has introduced a new online initiative, “Super Value Dates” and a dedicated web booking engine for meeting planners. With more than 130,000 square metres (over 1.4 million square feet) of total meeting space in 49 properties, Shangri-La offers more meeting capacity than any other Asia Pacific luxury hotel group. This initiative offers an all-encompassing meeting planning tool, allowing organisers to buy very competitive room rates for meetings in the hotels’ shoulder and low seasons. Through the “Super Value Dates” link on www.shangri-la.com, meeting organisers can now find the best available room rates at any of Shangri-La’s 49 properties. Organisers who have lead times of up to three months for groups of 10 or more rooms, plus flexible dates and destination preferences, will be rewarded with savings up to 50 per cent on their bookings through “Super Value Dates.”
The Fiji Islands Hotel and Tourism Association (FIHTA) has made the significant decision to adopt Australia’s Accommodation STAR rating scheme. This is an important move to align the quality of accommodation properties in Fiji with strict international standards. So far 18 properties in Fiji have official STAR ratings.
Bonville has been recognised on the world stage at the biggest awards night the travel and tourism industry has to offer. The World Travel Awards are the industry’s Oscars and certainly lived up to the glamour and hype this year at the recent awards presentation on the beautiful islands of Turks & Caicos in the Caribbean. Bonville International Golf Resort achieved what every golf resort in Australia strives to be, the leader in their field. Fittingly the resort has been named as “Australia’s Leading Golf Resort” at the 2006 Awards held in late 2006. Often likened to Augusta National in the US, the course took the honours over some tough competition including the seaside layout of Joondalup Resort in Western Australia and Royal Pines Resort on QLD’s Gold Coast. But the biggest competitor on the night was the Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas in QLD who were the 2004 and 2005 winners. Voting for the awards are cast by travel agents in more than 200 countries around the world. Regional and geographical categories are broken down from the overall world category into eight smaller areas of which Australasia is one.
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