WHITSUNDAYS
Picture perfect
Dubbed the second most ‘Instagrammable’ destination in the world, it’s no surprise the Whitsundays is landing
itself on bucket lists around the nation and the globe, writes Brittney Levinson.
The picture-perfect Whitsunday Islands
have experienced a 30.6 per cent increase in
domestic overnight visitors this year.
But it’s not just tourists heading to the
North Queensland gem; business events
and incentive groups frequent the island
year round.
“With 74 beautiful islands, stunning
beaches, protected rainforest, easy
access and world class infrastructure, the
Whitsundays has become a favourite venue
within the business events sector,” says
Tourism Whitsundays events specialist
Lorelei van Dalen.
“The Whitsundays continues to attract a
large number of business events, due to its
diverse range of event venues.
“This sort of activity is undoubtedly
influencing our domestic visitor numbers,
which continue to increase year on year.”
With visitor numbers increasing, airlines are
adding capacity to keep up with the influx.
Low-cost airline Tigerair Australia recently
announced it will commence four weekly
return services between Brisbane and the
Whitsunday Coast from March 2017.
The new route joins existing Tigerair
services from Sydney, Jetstar services
from Brisbane and Melbourne and Virgin
Australia flights from Brisbane.
From there, visitors can head to one of the
many destinations within the Whitsundays,
including Hamilton Island, Daydream Island,
Hayman Island and Airlie Beach.
Among the hotels and resorts at each of
the islands, there is a range of conference
and meeting facilities to cater for groups of
up to about 300.
The Hamilton Island Conference Centre is
the largest facility in the region, with the
ability to cater for up to 1000 delegates.
26 Convention & Incentive Marketing, Issue 7, 2016 www.cimmagazine.com
“Having such a large Centre in the middle
of the Whitsundays allows larger groups to
travel to such an extraordinary destination
rather than a typical city based convention
centre,” says Hamilton Island general
manager, hotels and resorts, Matt Boileau.
He says the Centre’s ideal location alongside
the Great Barrier Reef helps to draw groups
away from big city venues.
“It’s a perfect location to gather and
organise group movement and content
without the professional distractions that
capital cities can cause,” he says.
Choosing a tropical venue like the
Whitsundays doesn’t mean event planners
have to compromise on high quality
technology, says Boileau.
The Centre’s in-house audio visual
company AVPartners recently acquired a
12.5m wide blend screen, allowing more
projection techniques and light effects to