Brisbane’s iconic Story Bridge Adventure Climb (SBAC) finished 2007 on a literal high when it played an integral hosting role for Brisbane Marketing’s city induction famil. This famil was organised for key contacts from venues and products in the greater Brisbane region. City induction famils are designed to increase knowledge and awareness of the array of accommodation, activities and experiences available in Brisbane for conferences and incentives. Feedback received from famil participants indicated that the express climb of the bridge was the stand-out highlight of the day.
As Beth McDonald, client & business development manager from Hillstone St Lucia said, “This is a must-do! Your team was so professional – congratulations to SBAC on offering such a fabulous experience in Brisbane”. Story Bridge Adventure Climb also recently announced that Paul Lewin, the former director of business development for Brisbane Marketing, had been appointed as the new SBAC CEO, replacing Kevin Graetz who remains a director on the SBAC Board.
Brisbane’s popularity as a meeting and conventions destination continues to grow at a phenomenal rate, with new Tourism Research Australia statistics showing a dramatic increase in business tourism visitors. According to the National Visitor Survey results (for the year ending September 2007), Brisbane recorded a 17 per cent increase in business tourism visitor numbers and a 28 per cent increase in business tourism visitor nights. Brisbane Marketing executive chair, Ian Klug, said the growth in business tourism was indicative of Brisbane’s growing reputation as a destination of choice for meeting planners and event organisers.
In late November 2007, the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB) and Tourism Australia partnered with Etihad Airways to host a familiarisation program for six agents and one media representative from the United Kingdom. The program was managed by ID Australia and the SCVB. Blue skies and a perfect breeze meant that the agents were able to enjoy Sydney at its best over their three day visit. Each of the agents experienced a Harley Davidson tour to Bondi Beach, the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, a sunset sail, a Captain Cook lunch cruise and breakfast on the terrace in the Australia Room at the InterContinental. They also dined at various popular restaurants, including Kobe Jones Sydney, Nick’s Bondi Beach Pavilion, Café Mix and Altitude Restaurant at the Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney.
GOLD Coast Tourism CEO, Pavan Bhatia, resigned from his position at the end of 2007. He was CEO of the Gold Coast’s peak destination marketing body for almost three years. mice.net has not been informed if Mr Bhatia was taking up a position elsewhere.
CEO of the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau, Sandra Chipchase, has been elected the new President of the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB). Joining her as Vice President is John Fitzgerald, CEO of the Sunshine Coast CVB. Ms Chipchase thanked outgoing President Robyn Hendry for the excellent work she had contributed to the AACB, and said she was excited about the opportunities ahead for AACB members to continue to work together to generate export dollars for Australia, and to increase Australia’s ranking in the highly competitive and lucrative international business events market.
The Townsville Enterprise Convention Bureau has teamed up with the Cultural Centre - Townsville to bring the next Australian Indigenous Tourism Conference to North Queensland. The conference, to be held in late 2008 or early 2009, will bring 350 national delegates to the region for five days. The estimated delegate expenditure during the conference is $735,000, with the expectation that visitors will spend some time touring the region before and after the conference.
 Eastern states-based corporate meeting planners are being offered a $10,000 incentive to complete a meeting database survey being conducted by the Perth Convention Bureau. While the cash can be used by the company to go towards the cost of staging a future meeting, there’s also an enticing incentive for the planner who completes the one minute questionnaire. They will be whisked off to Western Australia to enjoy a weekend getaway in a poolside suite at the Esplanade Hotel Fremantle in the colourful and historic port city. The bureau’s director of research, Scott Campbell, says the aim of the electronic survey is to collect vital statistics on the scope of the corporate meetings business in Australia. “We’re keen to get a better understanding of the number and type of corporate meetings that are held each year in Australia,” he said. “And we are also keen to let planners know that we’ve gone ‘green’ and joined a local environmental organisation to offset our carbon footprint.” The weekend getaway will be carbon offset as the Esplanade Hotel Fremantle is the first hotel in WA to be declared carbon neutral, having purchased 9.6 hectares of rainforest in Ecuador through Rainforest Rescue to offset its carbon emissions. The survey has been sent to 650 planners who have until the end of April to respond and go into the draw for the $10,000 cash prize and the weekend getaway.
Still in Perth, the WA capital has pulled off a major coup by securing a 2000 delegate national medical conference. The combined annual scientific meetings of the Endocrine Society of Australia, the Society for Reproductive Biology, the Australian Diabetes Society and the Australian Diabetes Educators Association will meet in Perth in 2011. The six day conference is estimated to generate more than $4 million in direct delegate expenditure for the local economy, according to the Perth Convention Bureau. The bureau prepared the successful bid and committed $20,000 to secure the conference against competition from the Gold Coast.
Every industry has its leader and in the world of promotional products, Execugifts has once again proven their leadership by winning an impressive three awards at the Australasian Promotional Product Association (APPA) Pyramid Awards for 2007. APPA is the only professional trade association specifically for the promotional products industry in Australasia and its members include more than 620 of the top promotional companies. Hundreds of entries were received for the 2007 awards and despite the strong list of contenders, Execugifts managed to capture the top Gold Award in three categories – Tradeshow & Conference Programs, Supplier & Distributor Joint Venture Promotion, and the APPA Supplier Product Category. Allan Dawson, joint director of Execugifts said, “We are thrilled to receive these three awards, especially as they come from our industry peers. There can be no harsher critics and the Execugifts team greatly appreciates the recognition.”
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