 
Even though Canberra is regarded as the go to destination for international dignitaries and politicians, Australia’s capital city has much to offer those in the business of events.
As well as some stunning conference spaces Canberra is bountiful in new accommodation and culinary experiences. Hotel Realm is the newest five-star accommodation, and Diamant Hotel is the new kid on the block in terms of boutique-style facilities. And there are plenty of new attractions for event planners to get excited about as well.
Canberra is arguably the perfect destination for association events, with a wide range of accommodation options available as well as a series of attractions for families. Indeed, it certainly ticks many boxes for the family-friendly conference market.
The National Convention Centre and the adjacent Crowne Plaza Canberra have recently won four major awards between them at this year’s Australian Hotels Association Awards for the ACT. These awards have been credited to the dramatic refurbishments of the NCC and the Crowne Plaza, both in 2007.
General manager for both the NCC and Crowne Plaza, Matt Young, says it’s fantastic to be recognised with the success due in no small part to the team effort.
“The ability to set these benchmarks would not have been possible without the passion and dedication of each and every member of the teams at Crowne Plaza Canberra and the NCC,” he said.
“Everyone’s worked incredibly hard not only to make these facilities fantastic places to stay, eat, meet and entertain, but most importantly, to give something back to our community.”
The NCC has also been looking to the future success of its staff as well as battling against the issue of skill shortage. The NCC and the Canberra Institute of Technology have been working together since 2007 to help alleviate skill shortages in the hospitality industry.
According to NCC manager Cindy Young the initiative has proven to be successful and the first round of students working at the NCC recently graduated with Certificate 1 in Hospitality Operations.
“The partnership between the NCC and CIT is an example of the industry taking the initiative to combat the skill shortage in their own backyard,” she said.
 It’s Australia’s business end of town with plenty of meetings in progress at all times of the day and night, but there’s more to Canberra than just a myriad of meeting space. And the recent ‘Top Secret’ famil sure proved that.
Day one began like most other work days – to the office, however there was a top secret detour to the airport at around midday where I was whisked away for the weekend. The Canberra Convention Bureau had organised this showcase event which included almost 40 delegates.
Our first stop was the National Capital Exhibition which included a lightshow that told the story of the construction of Canberra and how it has become the metropolis it is today. Dinner was at one of the newer properties in town, Hotel Realm. Our group congregated in the foyer of the hotel with some of Canberra’s dignitaries, representatives from the CCB and Hotel Realm to enjoy a hauntingly beautiful performance by a local choir which echoed throughout the establishment. Our bellies were soon full from a delicious three course meal and the night continued with live jazz and a night cap.
An early wake-up call had the group bright-eyed and bushy tailed for a site inspection and breakfast at Rydges Lakeside. But the some would say insane time of the morning made much more sense once we sat down for breakfast and were greeted with three hot air balloons dotting the landscape from the windows of our breakfast tables.
With full tummies again it was back on the bus for our next top secret destination (well not really, it was on the itinerary… but let’s keep with the theme). We were off to the Glassworks where we were invited to get creative! After we’d made our best efforts the in-house professional glass-blower crafted a magnificent vase before our eyes, making us realise we had much to learn.
Lunch was another spectacular culinary experience. This time we indulged at the Boat House.
With boosted energy levels it was time to explore the National Convention Centre and its myriad of meeting spaces. As well as checking out capacities and event possibilities we also ventured into the kitchen where a culinary cook-off awaited. Four teams battled against each other in a game-show style competition to create the best dessert. With ice-cream, sprinkles and fruit, teams got creative and into the Canberra spirit with some key monuments appearing on plates. We then had the opportunity to meet local Canberra properties and operators at a tradeshow at the NCC.
Following this we had a tour through one of the biggest attractions in Canberra, the Australian War Memorial, where we discovered the event spaces and embraced the emotion of the closing ceremony. Despite our hectic day we managed to get our appetites back for dinner at the Park Hyatt  which turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Greeted with French champagne delegates networked and gushed about our day before a multiple-course feast which ended with a sweet surprise. A wall was moved to reveal a hidden room filled with desserts of every kind. Everyone initially was kicking themselves for eating all of the previous courses, however there is always room for amazing desserts. The room was filled with mist from dry ice which was keeping the home-made ice-cream cool, and some of the sweets included a chocolate fountain, made-to-order crêpes and a huge array of gourmet cheese.
After eating our weight in dessert the previous night it felt fitting to have breakfast at the Australian Institute of Sport. Athletes took us for a tour of the conference facilities and told us plenty of sporting yarns as we sat down to breakfast at the AIS’s million-dollar pool. The pool has been designed so that trainers can view athletes through glass panels from below the water’s surface to monitor their performance, and for us it was mesmerising to see these hard working swimmers lapping the pool while we had our first coffee of the day.
Some say there’s nothing wrong with 12 people in a 13 person maximum capacity lift… I would usually agree that is until it breaks down. After spending just over half-an-hour in the National Gallery’s lift we were all much closer, and maybe on a positive note this exercise could be a new concept in team-building!
Alas all 12 survived to get on the coach for a site inspection at Hotel Realm. This hotel has a very modern contemporary style with a lot of monotone colours and dark wood furniture. A memorable aspect of Hotel Realm for any guest is the interesting red hanging sculpture in the foyer which creates interesting shadows and textures on the grey walls.
The boutique-style Diamant Hotel was our last port of call and also our stop for lunch. This hotel is another new property to Canberra and offers a lot of potential for the area. It is unique in its décor and offers something new to event planners to consider when organising small to medium-sized functions. As well as accommodation this hotel is home to a restaurant and bar which all make the most of the exterior landscaping.
As we were back on the coach for the final time many delegates where reminiscing about the previous few days and the consensus was that many had a refreshed view of Canberra and a better insight into the business event possibilities on offer.
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