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BRISBANE BUREAU NEWS
The Brisbane Marketing Convention Bureau has wrapped up its best financial year for business events attraction on record – registering 27 bid wins, 244 requests for proposals, 2000 requests for information and more than 170 familiarisation program participants. High on the list of achievements for 2006/07 was the immensely successful “unconventional” direct-mail campaign. The campaign, which was awarded a highly commended certificate in the Australian Catalogue Awards, generated a huge response from professional conference organisers and corporate buyers across the nation, resulting in nine familiarisations and more than 75 famil participants. With the support of great local product, the bureau was able to introduce famil participants to a diverse range of convention infrastructure such as Brisbane’s Airtrain, the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre and Sofitel Brisbane along with some of the city’s best incentive and pre- and post-touring options including the Story Bridge Adventure Climb, Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort and Victoria Park Golf Complex and Function Venue. In light of this success, the bureau intends to build on its famil program in the new financial year. This is the ideal opportunity for qualified buyers to get first-hand experience of Australia’s fastest-growing capital city and one of the world’s best business events destinations.
For more information or to register for one of the upcoming Brisbane familiarisations visit www.meetinbrisbane.com
WHITSUNDAYS BUREAU NEWS
Tourism Whitsundays this month will be attending the PAICE tradeshow in Auckland. If you’re in NZ, please come and visit the team at stand number 34 for assistance with the planning of your next event in the Whitsundays. Tourism Whitsundays, along with Hayman and Fantasea Cruises, will also be spending the week travelling throughout New Zealand. If you would like to confirm an appointment please contact Michelle on +61 407 737473. Following the great response to mice.net’s June edition invitation to apply for our Whitsundays famil, we look forward to welcoming 10 qualified event planners to the region in September to experience three nights staying at Club Med Lindeman Island, Hamilton Island and Hayman, travelling out to the Great Barrier Reef with Cruise Whitsundays and Whitehaven Beach with Fantasea Cruises. Congratulations to those selected on this occasion. Thank you to everyone who applied, and stay tuned for another opportunity to experience the Whitsundays travelling early in 2008. Tourism Whitsundays recently sent out its half yearly direct mail newsletter with all of the essential regional updates to assist event planners organising their event in the Whitsundays. If you missed out and would like to ensure you are on the mailing list for this, our quarterly enewsletters and other special offers please contact btc@tourismwhitsundays.com.au. For more information visit www.tourismwhitsundays.com.au.
From the rugged ranges of the Central Australian outback to the tropical harbour-side city of Darwin, the Northern Territory has so much to offer. And now there is more to choose from, with the opening of the Mbantua Gallery in Darwin. Expanding on their well known art gallery and cultural museum in Alice Springs, Mbantua now brings a range of central Australian art to Darwin. Along with a range of beautiful artworks, the venue can cater for cocktail functions and is the perfect location for welcome drinks. Right next door, the Darwin Entertainment Centre is expanding its facilities, with the construction of an outdoor deck area. The deck will be nestled between the Darwin Entertainment Centre and Holiday Inn Esplanade. Additions also include a balcony area which will merge indoor and outdoor spaces and allow for increased function and exhibition space. If you’re looking for a fresh accommodation option, one of Darwin’s hidden gems is the Moonshadow Estate. Think exotic, luxurious and inspiring and you have the feel of these award-winning villas. With such a tranquil, tropical paradise, your biggest problem will be choosing to relax in your private courtyard or laze in one of the two stunning waterfall sandstone swimming pools.
Visit www.ntconventions.com.
The bureau’s internationally recognised scholarships and conference development awards program continues to produce outstanding results...and inspirational local hosts. The 2007 program unearthed a record number of expressions of interest and a productive batch of sales leads. Three $20,000 scholarships - sponsored by the bureau, City of Perth and Perth Airport - have provided leads for 38 international conferences, 24 of which are now under development and which we expect to reach the formal bid stage. The conference development awards - again sponsored by the WA Department of Resources and Industry - garnered 20 submissions for inaugural meetings. Already, nine of these have been confirmed representing 3850 delegates, more than 12,300 hotel room nights and an estimated $4.31 million delegate spend. For the small amount of investment since the program was introduced in 1999, the economic benefit to the state now exceeds $50 million. But more than the economic impact, the program has played a key role in advancing the state’s knowledge across a broad range of subjects, bringing business to both Perth and regional Western Australia. It has been a wonderful vehicle to showcase the bureau, our local ‘heroes’ and the significant contribution business tourism makes to the local economy. Visit www.pcb.com.au
SYDNEY BUREAU NEWS
The countdown to World Youth Day 2008 has begun, with less than 12 months to go until Sydney hosts 300,000 visitors for the largest youth event ever staged in Australia. About 200 members of the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau and Meeting & Events Australia last month received a briefing on the July 15-20 event, which will include the first visit to Australia by Pope Benedict XVI and an estimated 125,000 overseas pilgrims. The Chief Executive Officer of the WYD 2008 Coordinating Authority, Roy Wakelin-King, gave members an outline of the event program and other arrangements. Events associated with WYD 2008 include a nation-wide year-long tour by the WYD Cross, which was welcomed to Australia by Prime Minister John Howard on July 1 after its 12-month journey from Rome as a symbolic rallying call to the world’s Catholic youth. The WYD Week begins on July 15 next year with an Opening Mass celebrated by Sydney Archbishop Cardinal George Pell, followed by a concert. Other events include youth festival events, teaching sessions, a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross, the arrival and welcome of Pope Benedict on July 17, a pilgrimage walk, an evening vigil with Pope Benedict and a Closing Mass at Randwick Racecourse on July 20 – expected to be the largest gathering of people in Australia’s history. In all, about 500,000 people are expected to attend WYD events, including 300,000 visitors to Sydney. Visit www.scvb.com.au.
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