And the good news is that there is a raft of new facilities opening up, under construction, and being upgraded around the country – ready and waiting to host large-scale events and memorable meetings.
Melbourne’s new $370 million convention centre is on-track for an official opening in 2009 while Darwin’s purpose-built convention centre is well on the way to being officially opened in mid 2008. In Canberra the National Convention Centre re-opened in October after a $30 million upgrade, while plans are presently being refined on the $100 million expansion of the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.
Smaller venues are also coming on-line and squarely targeted at the national conference and events market including The Grand Pavilion at Rosehill Gardens which opens in February 2008 and will offer first-class flexible facilities for conferences, dinners and exhibitions. The $30 million project will accommodate up to 2000 people for functions plus also have 3300 square metres of ground floor exhibition space.
The nearby Sydney Showgrounds has also undergone extensive venue refurbishments with the precinct now clearly targeting business events.
Meanwhile in Adelaide, a Federal Government grant of $35 million has been made for upgrades to the Adelaide Showground.
With so much going on, mice.net thought it would be an opportune time to give readers a little further information on these and other projects. Our apologies if we have neglected any venues due to our limited space. . .
The Federal Government has granted $35 million to fund a major boost to the Adelaide Showground. This grant recognises the importance of the Adelaide Showground, which attracts more than one million visitors every year, to Adelaide and South Australia.
The new exhibition facility is part of a $180 million Master Plan for the redevelopment of the Adelaide Showground over the next 20 years.
The new building will be pillarless and include cutting-edge design, environmental features, have a street frontage to Goodwood Road and will connect directly to Jubilee Pavilion.
Combined with its existing facilities, the showground can provide event organisers with 26,300 square metres of integrated, air-conditioned exhibition space at a world standard. This includes a new 9000 square metre exhibition facility together with a 16,000 square metre landscaped outdoor exhibition and entertainment area.
Operators believe the new facilities will bring a new impetus to the showground site and enable greater use of the venue throughout the year.
Future plans include the replacement of Centennial Hall, which is deemed unsafe and has not been used since 2005, with a landmark facility which will provide state-of-the-art, environmentally sound and high-quality exhibition space for South Australia.
The Federal Government funding represents the first financial assistance that the Adelaide Showground has received in the development of South Australia’s premier exhibition centre. It is a major investment designed to reinforce the showground’s position among Australia’s elite exhibition venues as well as provide enhanced event opportunities and economic benefits for South Australia.
The Adelaide Showground currently holds events including the Royal Adelaide Show, the Royal Adelaide Wine Show, Farmers Market, Caravan and Camping Show, Adelaide Motor Show, Big Day Out, Home Ideas and Lifestyle Expo and a variety of corporate events.
Canberra has set a new benchmark for Australian events venues with the re-opening of the refurbished National Convention Centre on October 18, 2007.
The ACT Government has invested $30 million in the upgrade which now provides a power-house venue for the national and international market, with excellent facilities, size and scope in the seat of power, Canberra.
Improvements to technology, security and catering are said to have raised the standard of functions and events and allowed for a more flexible and accessible floor plan to better cater for conferences of more than 600 delegates. This has been facilitated by a new moveable drapes system leading to the Royal Theatre, enabling more flexibility in the use of the space.
The very latest security infrastructure provides the venue with the ability to be locked down, which is now an essential requirement for many government and corporate clients.
The highest catering and hospitality standards can also be achieved with a new cook/chill kitchen system and hand-picked, highly trained staff, said to ensure delegates will enjoy the very highest standards in service and a memorable experience.
An additional lift and new staircase has improved movement of people throughout the centre and access for people with disabilities.
The National Convention Centre can cater for between 10 to 2500 guests. The exhibition hall can accommodate as many as 120 display booths and up to 2500 people can be entertained in the Royal Theatre. An additional range of versatile rooms are available for small private meetings, break-out areas and cocktails, regardless of the number of guests. Features include a ballroom which seats 600, four theatrettes, seven flat-floor rooms, four boardrooms and exhibition space of 2400 square metres.
InterContinental Hotels Group, the centre’s lessee and manager, has appointed a new and highly experienced management team. Matthew Young is general manager, Cindy Young is National Convention Centre manager and Paul Shaw is director of sales and marketing.
According to Mr Shaw, the new-look centre will help attract more business to Canberra.
”With the newly refurbished National Convention Centre, we now have arguably Australia’s best conference and business event venue in a city that has excellent facilities and infrastructure,” he said.
“Canberra is a hub for decision-makers and innovators and it provides an excellent opportunity for organisations to showcase to key stakeholders, opinion leaders and political representatives.”
In line with refurbishments and upgrades and a stronger push into business events, Sydney Showground recently unveiled fresh new branding.
 The logo features a sleek graphic of Sydney Showground’s signature venue, the Dome, one of the largest clear span venues in Australia. A series of purple arcs radiating away from the Dome’s pinnacle in a ripple effect represent Sydney Showground’s reputation for staging events that “make waves”.
The contemporary logo also aims to reflect Sydney Showground’s growing professional and sophisticated clientele and follows its recent million dollar venue refurbishments and steady infrastructure injection into the precinct.
Sydney Showground general manager of event sales, Kim-Laura Brown, said the new look goes hand-in-hand with venue upgrades.
“It represents a move away from the carnival persona of the old logo towards a look which will breathe new life into our brand and more accurately reflect the values of the corporate event planners, decision makers, inbound tour and event operators and agents who choose to hold their event at one of Sydney Showground’s 20 unique venues,” she said.
Sydney Showground is approaching its first decade at the Sydney Olympic Park site and its diverse collection of venues play host to gala dinners, conferences, exhibitions, concerts, film shoots, cocktail functions, product launches, trade fairs and sporting events.
Cairns continues to prove its ability to provide world-class convention services to meeting organisers and delegates with a number of prestigious events recently held in the city. A plus for conference organisers has been larger than anticipated delegate numbers with the destination and facilities cited as major draw cards.
The International Society for Stem Cell Research had planned for 1200 delegates in its first foray outside North America but was surprised when registrations reached 2000.
Director of conference organisers ASN Events, Mike Pickford, said the decision to hold the event in Cairns resulted in record attendances from all countries throughout the Asia Pacific Region.
In October 2007 the inaugural Australian Physiotherapy Conference Week was held in Cairns. It was the first time that the Biennial Scientific Conference of all the APA National Groups was staged at the same time, in one venue. This resulted in nine national conferences being held at the Cairns Convention Centre with 1800 delegates attending.
August saw Cairns host the International Union for Quaternary Research Congress (INQUA2007). Organisers were expecting 600 delegates but final numbers were in excess of 1100 with scientists from more than 40 countries attending the meeting.
Another conference with similar results was the World Sleep Congress (worldsleep07) which brought 1900 sleep researchers from 60 countries who enjoyed not just the science but also the World Heritage areas of Tropical North Queensland.
Cairns was also chosen by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as the destination for their major APEC meetings with 1500 ministers, senior officials and staff from 21 APEC economies attending the Senior Officials Meeting 111 and Ministers Responsible for Trade held at the Cairns Convention Centre over a 14 day period.
Future bookings also confirm the desire of delegates and event organisers to do business in Cairns, with the following recent bid wins for the Cairns Convention Centre expected to bring more than 7000 delegates to the city.
International Congress on Ionic Fluids (2009)
Local Government Managers Association (2011)
Property Council of Australia Congress (2008)
Stroke Society of Australasia Annual Scientific Meeting (2009)
Renal Society of Australasia National Conference (2010)
StatPhys24 - International Conference on Statistical Physics (2010)
43rd International Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology (2009)
6th Intercontinental Meeting of Hair Research Societies (2010)
The Queensland Government has put in place the first steps in a proposed major expansion of the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, already one of the strongest performers in Australia. Funding has been provided and architects appointed for the development of plans and design documentation prior to seeking final approval and funding from the Government for construction of the $100 million expansion.
Internationally recognised convention centre specialist designers, Cox Rayner Architects - who were the original designers of the Brisbane centre as well as the Sydney, Cairns and Singapore centres - have begun work on the Grey Street Development expansion plans which will incorporate an additional 11 meeting rooms including two tiered plenary auditoriums, accompanying break-out areas, foyer space and banqueting facilities.
The centre’s existing Great Hall already offers Australia’s greatest plenary capacity accommodating 8000 in plenary mode. The proposed new auditoriums will add further plenary capacity but significantly offer greater flexibility in accommodating multiple events of differing sizes at the one time.
According to the BCEC, the planned expansion will meet an urgent need to accommodate the increasing demand for conventions of 400 to 600 delegates. It will also provide a direct interface from the convention centre to the South Bank Precinct - the cultural heart and hub of Brisbane city and home to galleries, theatres, orchestras, opera and Australia’s newest and largest Gallery of Modern Art.
The Queensland Government has indicated that subject to construction funding being approved, the centre’s expansion could be completed by mid 2009.
Melbourne will be showing its trump card to the world at AIME next year, and continuing to promote its new $370 million convention centre right up to when it opens in 2009.
The new centre will have a 5000 seat plenary hall and associated facilities and features which due to its configuration will see it setting a new bar for venues.
In addition, the centre is designed to achieve a Six Green Star environmental rating, making it one of the greenest convention centres in the world, and the first convention venue to achieve a Six Green Star rating.
“Its locality will give us a clear advantage,” explains Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre CEO, Leigh Harry.
“Not many other venues of this size can claim they’re in the centre of the city, surrounded by public transport, hotels and restaurants and are able to offer the level of service we can.”
According to the MECC, it is unashamedly going to be one of the most impressive architectural and environmental buildings in Australia, and is already capturing business for Melbourne before it is even open.
Already more than 17 international conventions are booked for the new convention centre, bringing more than 42,000 international business travellers to the city and injecting more than $285 million into the state economy.
The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre has been forging ahead since opening in 2004, so much so that the Queensland State Government has commenced construction proceedings to double the centre’s exhibition space.
According to the GCCEC it will double its exhibition space by mid-November 2008 completing the planned extension to build two additional halls providing a total exhibition capacity of 10,000 square metres and be able to host 580 exhibition booths.
GCCEC general manager Adrienne Readings said remaining competitive within the conventions and incentives market was critical for the GCCEC.
“The demand for exhibition space linked to conventions has risen dramatically,” she said.
“We need to be able to offer enough space so events can hold concurrent sessions as well as expand their exhibition displays. This expansion means the GCCEC will be able to attract and secure large pieces of business that have previously not been able to book with us.
“To date we estimate to have lost $20 million worth of business due to inadequate exhibition space. In all cases the events have had a strong desire to book at the GCCEC.”
General manager of the Darwin Convention Centre, Malu Barrios and her team have confirmed 20 conventions and exhibitions months before the facility’s targeted opening date in mid-2008. The centre is attracting groups of between 400 and 1300 with an average of 600 to 700 - numbers that are expected to spark business activity in Darwin and across the Top End.
“The Darwin Convention Centre and Australia’s tropical harbour city is ready to host the world,” Ms Barrios said.
“Construction is on schedule and we look forward to welcoming our first event in mid-2008.”
In anticipation of a growth in delegates to Darwin when the centre opens more than 500 new accommodation rooms will be opened by 2009.
A selection of national and international conventions already confirmed in 2007 include: RANZCOG Indigenous Women’s Health Meeting (300 delegates), Australian General Practice Network Forum (1000 delegates), 46th International Association of Women in Policing Training Conference (500 delegates), and the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) conference (1500 delegates).
Top |