Tasmania is a special place, full of rich experiences – from mysterious rainforests to fascinating colonial villages, idyllic beaches, mouth-watering fresh produce and magnificent cool-climate wines.
Add in world-class meeting facilities, accommodation options and superb off-site venues, and Tasmania becomes an unforgettable conference destination. Unforgettable because it also offers a range of experiences for your delegates to savour and enjoy, all in one compact and easily-accessible destination.
As a meetings experience Tasmania will leave you spoilt for choice. Whether you require a city venue for a large convention of 1100 or a secluded haven in the Tasmanian wilderness for a small conference group, Tasmania’s venues are on a par with any in Australia and are operated by professionals experienced in staging the most prestigious international events.
If you’re looking to stage an off-site experience, Tasmania offers exciting, unique and enjoyable social programs, away from the convention venue. Dramatic mountains, beautiful wilderness, sophisticated wineries, busy cities and coastal scenery are all easily accessed and interpreted by convention groups.
A dining experience in Tasmania will refresh your palate with the flavours of its clean seas, pure water and rich soil. Rejuvenate your senses as you savour the tastes of succulent fresh seafood, game, cheeses and berries mixed with delicate cool climate wines and fine beer.
For an incentive experience there’s plenty to fit the bill, from a gentle outdoor pleasure to a full adrenalin rush. From rafting to riding, paddling to peddling, flying to fishing or climbing to cruising, Tasmania offers an activity for every incentive or meeting group.
As a holiday experience Tasmania is the perfect destination for delegates to take advantage of the pre- and post-tours available and combine their conference with a holiday and explore Tasmania’s natural beauty, heritage and wilderness attractions.
Tasmania is unforgettable, with its relaxed pace of life reflecting a unique island lifestyle, genuine warmth of welcome from the locals and an exciting and safe environment for delegates to explore.
One of Tasmania’s top harbourside venues, Wrest Point Convention Centre has improved its offering to the C&I market with the addition of a new conference room.
The centre’s new Riviera Room is a flexible space for smaller-size meetings or break-outs, and can be set up for a cocktail function of around 45 guests.
Located on the mezzanine level of the Wrest Point tower, the room is close to all facilities and a range of audio-visual requirements can be installed.
The additional room adds to the versatility of the centre, which now has 15 conference rooms capable of hosting two to 1600 delegates, as well as the flexibility of erecting a hoecker on the front lawns that can cater for up to 1200 cocktail-style.
Wrest Point Convention Centre boasts an absolute waterfront position with spectacular views of the River Derwent and the heights of Mt Wellington, all within minutes of Hobart’s CBD.
For an island that’s relatively small in its geographical size, boasting a modest population of around 483,000, Tasmania certainly surprises some people with its range of five-star experiences within one hour of the five-star accommodation and quality meeting venues located in its major centres.
This accessibility, coupled with new and refurbished properties and attractions around the state, is convincing more corporate meeting and incentive groups to take a closer look at Tasmania.
 Chief executive of the Tasmanian Convention Bureau, Vincent Barron says Tasmania’s offering to the corporate meeting market has been boosted by the performance of Launceston’s Peppers Seaport Hotel, the Sebel Launceston and Quest Launceston, and the heightened recognition of The Islington Hotel and The Henry Jones Art Hotel, recently being named Australia’s best boutique hotel and the runner-up respectively in the inaugural Australian Gourmet Traveller 2007 Travel Awards.
Mr Barron also says it’s great to see that groups are increasingly choosing Tasmania as a base for conferences and events.
“While a range of incentive and corporate groups, franchise meetings and car launches are experiencing the inspiration, rejuvenation and adventure offered in different parts of Tasmania, the national association conference market is also up on the previous two years,” he says.
Mr Barron reports that about 24,000 delegates attended 115 national or international association conferences during the 2006/07 financial year, with nine of these attracting more than 600 delegates a piece.
“An outstanding example is the Scientific Committee on Antarctica Research (SCAR) and associated meetings which expected 420 delegates and actually attracted 920 delegates from 32 countries,” he says.
With two major hotel venues in the Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart and Wrest Point Tasmania with the capacity to host events of 1000 delegates, Hobart is in a very competitive position for association conferences.
“Both major venues are located on the magnificent Hobart waterfront, within easy access to the CBD and only 20 minutes’ from a choice of three outstanding winery function centres,” Mr Barron says.
Supporting accommodation has also received a boost with recent refurbishments and new apartments becoming available.
The Lodge at Tarraleah, the newest resort on the edge of the Tasmanian wilderness, provides luxury accommodation, a range of fully-equipped conference and meeting rooms for up to 100 and superb views from a top-class restaurant, only 90 minutes from Hobart.
Conference planners are increasingly utilising the venues and infrastructure in the bushland-surrounded city of Launceston. Two recent conferences with 310 delegates were successfully held at the Hotel Grand Chancellor Launceston located in the heart of the city and used the supporting infrastructure close by for off-site dining.
Major refurbishments of rooms, bars and function space at Launceston’s Country Club Tasmania has added to the animation of this venue, which has a championship standard golf course, horse-riding and a range of experiences in a resort location.
Also in Launceston, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery provides a unique artistic and industrial experience, with a blacksmith’s shop and disused railway sheds just across the courtyard from classical works of art and a museum.
In the same precinct, the 350-tiered-seat Launceston Tramshed with its associated function spaces provides an easily accessible conference venue.
One wilderness experience currently attracting international and national incentive groups is provided through day trips by Pepperbush Adventures. The company can create a combination of activities that challenge the mind and body and stimulate the tastebuds with a gourmet bush tucker experience, flavoured with Tasmanian spices from the bush.
Also tantalising the tastebuds are the wines made at Meadowbank Estate. Just 15 minutes’ drive from the Hobart waterfront, Meadowbank offers an award-winning restaurant, cellar door and function centre surrounded by a sea of vines and overlooking the spectacular Coal River Valley. With the building as it stands, Meadowbank can fit 250 for a sit-down dinner, but has catered for 450 through the use of additional space around the property.
For something wilder, Top Gun Tasmania offers people a once-in-a-lifetime experience of being a fighter pilot. The company has several Jet Fighter Flights and Warbird Flights available for half-day adventures. Individuals are outfitted in a full military pilot flying suit, helmet, oxygen mask and gloves, and after a final briefing and flight clearance, they are off into the sky on an adrenalin-pumping ride.
The Tasmanian Convention Bureau conducts regular group familiarisation trips to different parts of the state to experience these activities and more. For more information, visit the bureau’s website, www.tasmaniaconventions.com, or pick up a copy of its new meeting and incentive planners’ guide.
Hotel Grand Chancellor Launceston
29 Cameron Street, Launceston – www.ghihotels.com
Capacity: 165 guest rooms and a convention venue with 11 rooms, the largest being the Elm Convention Centre which can host 500 banquets of up to 485.
USP: An affordable four-and-a-half-star hotel that’s a short stroll from the main central business district, shopping mall in Brisbane Street and Yorktown Square.
Freycinet Lodge
Freycinet National Park, Coles Bay – www.federalgroup.com.au
Capacity: 60 cabins ranging from two-bedroom to luxury premier cabins, and meeting facilities for up to 110 delegates.
USP: Located on a 14-acre site within the Freycinet National Park, its waterfront location at the foot of the Hazards is a top setting for conference and incentive groups.
Henry Jones Art Hotel
25 Hunter Street, Hobart – www.thehenryjones.com
Capacity: A range of guest suites, plus several unique meeting venues, including The Atrium for 400 delegates, The Jones & Co. Room for 200, and Henry’s Restaurant for 80.
USP: A row of historical factories and warehouses transformed into Tasmania’s newest first-class waterfront accommodation displaying local and contemporary art pieces.
Sebel Launceston
Cnr St John and William Streets, Launceston – www.mirvachotels.com.au
Capacity: 50 self-contained one- and two-bedroom suites, and conference facilities for up to 70, including a private courtyard for cocktail functions of 20.
USP: Boutique-style accommodation in the heart of Tasmania’s second largest city.
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