 
ICMS Australasia has opened an office dedicated to the Melbourne conference and events market. While we’ve run meetings in and around the Victorian capital for many years, the time has arrived for a permanent presence in this key Australian city where many of our clients are headquartered.
elbourne and the Victorian government have been extremely proactive in creating not only the bricks and mortar but also the ideal climate for the labour-intensive, high value live events industry to prosper. The decision to build a new convention centre and consolidate it with the existing Melbourne Exhibition Centre on Southbank is a good example of forward thinking and will assist Melbourne in its goal to be a premier conference and event city. The city is renowned for its program of events such as the Australian Tennis Open, the Formula One Grand Prix and the Melbourne Festival, but what is perhaps less visible is the amount of satellite business these marquee events generate.
The state and city have backed the construction effort with additional funding for the marketing of the new venue and it’s good to see they haven’t adopted the “if we build it, delegates will come” approach that has bedevilled new centres on occassions.
Sascha Hawe, ICMS Australasia Melbourne executive manager, brings significant industry knowledge and management skills to her new position. She most recently spent five years with the Royal Melbourne Show – anyone who can handle sheep and goats is ideally suited to the meetings industry!
We’ve been surprised and delighted at the reception we received on opening our Melbourne enterprise. The local suppliers have most generously welcomed our arrival, many of whom we know well from events we’ve run in Melbourne over many years. ICMS Australasia comes from a production tradition rather than travel or administrative origins and we believe our challenge is to grow the meetings pie in Melbourne rather than nibble away at existing business. Melbourne has one of the best conference precincts in the world – efficient public transport, conference hotels in easy striking distance of the convention centre, superb entertainment capability, technically superior production facilities and a motivated workforce to make it happen.
For more information, contact
Bryan Holliday at ICMS Australasia at
02 9254-5000. www.icmsaust.com.au
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