Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef region continues to show significant business tourism growth as more and more meeting and incentive planners and business groups discover our destination’s growing capacity and diverse attractions.
News from the region includes the grand opening of the Sebel Harbour Lights Cairns, the luxurious new beachfront Grand Mercure Rockford Esplanade Apartments Palm Cove, Peppers Bale Resort Port Douglas and Rydges Sabaya Resort Port Douglas. There’s also a new spa for the Cairns International Hotel and the re-opening of the Spice Market restaurant at Novotel Rockford Palm Cove.
Cairns and Region Convention Bureau are proud to launch our new Meetings and Incentives Planner’s Guide this month, featuring our region’s exciting new destination branding. As well as the English version of this comprehensive guide, the Japanese and Chinese versions are published for the first time in full colour, to address growing business tourism interest from these markets. Meeting planners will also welcome the inclusion of a CD which provides digital presentations and images to assist them as they present the business tourism benefits of Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef region to their valued clients.
Australian Events Expo was also a great opportunity for us to display our new destination branding, meet with many industry colleagues and contacts and distribute our new planner’s guide.
Visit www.cairnsconventionbureau.com.
Brisbane’s credentials as the destination of choice for conventions continues to gather momentum with news of four new conference wins and a 24 place jump in the 2006 International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) city rankings.
Bid wins
On the international front, Brisbane has secured the 2009 conference of the International Society for History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology. The conference is expected to attract more than 450 delegates over five days and four nights in July 2009 and deliver an economic windfall of more than $1.04million. Closer to home, the bureau has also helped secure the City and Urban Development Summit for October 2007, the Australian Midwifery Expo for June 2008 and the 6th Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference for October 2008. The combined economic impact of these three events is expected to generate $1.26million for the city.
ICCA rankings
Adding further weight to Brisbane’s status as an international meeting destination is news that the city has climbed 24 places to claim the 56th place in the 2006 ICCA city rankings. ICCA reports that Brisbane (previously ranked 80th) hosted 21 meetings in 2006 (based on the ICCA definition of an international conference) compared to 13 meetings in 2005.
For more information visit www.meetinbrisbane.com.
Townsville Convention Bureau has recently promoted Julie Caspani to the manager position, after almost two years as sales & marketing coordinator. Stepping into the sales & marketing coordinator role is Samantha McLeod, who is originally from Townsville, but moved to Brisbane to complete her tertiary studies and worked in the business events industry in various roles, including as a groups and conferences consultant in a major corporate travel management company. Samantha moved back to Townsville at the beginning of 2007 and has been with Townsville Enterprise Convention Bureau since the beginning of March. Julie and Samantha are passionate about promoting Townsville and North Queensland as a business events destination, and are only too happy to assist you with any queries you may have about holding your next event in North Queensland.
Delegates on a recent buyer famil to Townsville and North Queensland experienced Meeting Life in Tropics first hand as they discovered the best that North Queensland has to offer conference organisers. Taste buds were tantalized as they experienced the region’s local cuisines prepared by five-star chefs, unique outdoor venues were discovered and a visit to Magnetic Island showcased the region’s newest luxury conferencing facilities, proving to all that Townsville and North Queensland is regional Australia’s premier business events destination.
Visit www.townsvilleonline.com.au for more information or contact Julie on 07 4726 2777.
Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB) hosted 12 clients last month for its May Conference Walk. Attendees represented organisations from ANZ Banking Group and Coles Group to the Australian Dental Association. The event not only served to update clients on some of Melbourne’s new and up and coming developments – such as Central Pier, Docklands and the new Melbourne Convention Centre - but also provided the opportunity for more established venues; The Langham Hotel, Arts Centre, Zinc - Federation Square and Grand Hyatt, to have some face-to-face time with key customers.
“As an event manager I’m constantly running around the city, hurriedly being shown through function rooms, sifting through websites and making decisions about venues with my fingers crossed. The MCVB walking tour allowed me to indulge in the full experience of the various sites, much as a delegate would, and I was really able to get a feel for the different venues,” said Charity McNeilly, ANZ Banking Group.
In other news, Eureka Skydeck 88 has officially opened its doors to become the highest public vantage point in the Southern Hemisphere and Sofitel Melbourne has announced completion of its multi-million dollar refurbishment giving the hotel a chic new style from the decadent Atrium Bar, luxury suites on the 50th floor, a new executive lounge as well as a complete redesign of the foyer and event spaces.
Visit www.mcvb.com.au
Sydney businesses and visiting conference delegates will both share the benefits of the new Sydney Conference Card when it makes its formal debut on July 1. An initiative of the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB), the card provides discounts to conference delegates while giving local businesses a chance to boost their sales and benefit from the international conference sector.
The card is a first for the Asia Pacific region and has met with a strong response during a pilot program that has operated since March. More than 14,000 delegates attending top Sydney conferences have trialled the card, allowing them to enjoy a 10 per cent discount at more than 50 leading tourism businesses. The trial card had been issued to delegates at a range of prominent international events, as well as to visitors at the inaugural Australian Events Expo held in May.
The initial response has been very good. Businesses have said they’re very pleased with the additional international visitors they’ve attracted, while delegates have been delighted to get a 10 per cent discount on a range of products and services, from retailers and restaurants to attractions and activities.
The Sydney Conference Card has been developed in partnership with Smartvisit Solutions and uses the latest in card technology, enabling businesses to track its effectiveness with daily reports online and quarterly snapshots summarising overall delegate spending patterns.
The Whitsundays welcomes three new exciting event venues with a difference: An exclusive world-class luxury resort will open on Hamilton Island at the end of August this year - 2007. To be named Qualia, the resort is an important addition to the premium end of the Australian accommodation market and will provide a new reason for domestic and international travellers to relook at the Whitsundays as a destination for their next luxury getaway. Spend three unforgettable nights visiting the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands on board Fantasea’s Ammari. The 60 metre vessel can operate as a distinguished venue for private corporate functions, incentive programs and events catering for up to 68 passengers. Offering a tailor made quality experience where exclusive day trips and overnight charters are part of an adventure of a lifetime, this is no ordinary cruise. The Whitsunday Coast will boast a new resort, Santai Airlie Beach, and conference facility catering for up to 500 people which will place Airlie Beach on the map as a new event destination. Construction is due to start shortly with completion end of 2008. Tourism Whitsundays is delighted to be partnering with Virgin Blue and mice.net to bring a select group of event organisers to the Whitsundays. For your chance to be included in our upcoming famil program, don’t forget to complete and return the application form in this edition of mice.net magazine.
Adelaide has been the fastest mover in global rankings for the number of international association meetings held in 2006, according to ICCA.
In the latest results, Adelaide ranked equal third in Australasia and 56th globally amongst 233 cities, up 47 places from 2005.
Adelaide Convention Tourism Authority CEO Martin Winter said that the result reconfirmed Adelaide’s attractiveness as a business event destination and the potential it has to grow event numbers further.
“Given the minimal resources ACTA has at its disposal compared to our national and global competitors, this is a great result for Adelaide’s meetings industry,” he said.
Using ICCA criteria, Adelaide out-performed New York, Moscow, Frankfurt and Los Angeles in 2006, with only Sydney and Melbourne attracting more conferences in Australia.
“Adelaide has excellent quality infrastructure, is easy to get around and has a proven, professional industry,” said Winter, “and now we have one of the world’s best airports, which conference delegates love.”
In the 18 months since July 2005, ACTA secured 66 conferences by competitive bid, producing 170,000 high-yield delegate bed nights valued at more than $160 million to the South Australian economy.
For something quite special for events on the Sunshine Coast “Pavilion” at “The Farm” is another exciting new product to consider when looking for an interesting off-site option, product launch or out-of–the–box meeting venue.
Owned by art collector Philip Harding who developed and owns Noosa Blue Resort, the Pavilion is situated atop a hill on a magnificent 90 acre property next to Mt Cooroy, some 20 mins inland from Noosa Heads. Seating 120 (or 200 stand up) with large decks for pre dinners surrounding the main building, the Pavilion is ultra modern in design and affords breathtaking 360 degree views across the ranges and rolling green valleys of the Sunshine Coast hinterland and back to Noosa and the ocean.
The team at Noosa Blue Resort will assist you with catering, pricing and details. Telephone them on 07 5447 5699.
The 2007 – 2008 Sunshine Coast Meeting and Incentive Navigator is the definitive guide to sourcing business event products on the Sunshine Coast. Contact the Sunshine Coast Convention Bureau for a copy Navigator@tsc.com.au, telephone 07 5452 2502 or go to www.sccb.net.au to download your copy.
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