Conference & Meetings World Issue 104 | Page 35

Australia Fighting fire with experience ictoria is one of the Australian states most affected by the bush fires that have been sweeping the south east of the country in recent weeks. The problem is a real challenge and many national parks have closed and tourism numbers are affected. Nevertheless, good results for 2019 and long experience in the global meetings industry should stand the state and, indeed the country, in good stead as industry leaders strive to guide planners around the problems. CMW asked MCB Chief Executive Julia Swanson about Melbourne’s strategy. Tackling the elephant in the room, she said: “MCB will work closely with its upcoming business events to help them understand the situation in Victoria for any planned tours. Many parts of Victoria are unaffected by bush fires and are warmly welcoming visitors.” “For any event organisers considering a conference in Melbourne, we are very much open for business and can be contacted for deeper discussions about individual events. “We have a proven track record of collaborating to secure and host business events and this approach puts us in good stead to cope with challenging circumstances such as bush fires.” Swanson added that the outgoing year had seen “strong results” and pointed to three key focus areas for the future: • Delivering a strong pipeline of large business events to the city – to support the Government’s investment in Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and support the new hotel pipeline • Focusing on events with strong trade, investment and social legacies for the city and supporting clients • Delivering value for partners. “We have increased interest for the Asia Pacific region and our integration into Visit Victoria gives us an edge over competitors in generating opportunities for incentive groups that are new and immersive ‘money can’t buy’ experience,” Swanson added. One recent international congress was the International Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses 2019, held at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, 22-24 November 2019. Fifty thousand delegates at the conference delivered A$60m to the Victorian economy and the pre-convention touring programme drove 12,400 visitors into Victoria’s most popular regional areas including Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges, and the Goldfields region. International conference delegates spend an average of A$,1019 per day, which is 21% more than other international visitors, according to the MCB. There are two city ambassador programmes – MCB’s Great Minds Live Here Sector Champions, and the Club Melbourne Ambassadors Programme in collaboration with the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. There are 124 leaders and elite thinkers acting as conference ambassadors for the city, part of a programme that has secured 150 international conferences that have delivered an economic impact worth more than A$950m. In 2019 the Club Melbourne “The city has plans for an additional 7,000 new city hotel rooms within the next five years” Ambassadors successfully secured another 10 international events for Melbourne for future years. They are predicted to deliver over $40m in economic impact combined. The conference list includes: The Annual International Computational Neuroscience Meeting in 2020, the Fragility Fracture Network Global Congress in 2021 and the International Congress on Obesity in 2022. The State Government has also invested in the $972m multi-year redevelopment of CENTREPIECE, Melbourne and Olympic Parks new state-of the-art events complex - on track for completion in 2021. Christchurch Te Pae – The Christchurch Convention Centre is scheduled to open in October 2020 and will be able to host up to 2,000 delegates. The venue will enable the city to attract conferences of a new scale. The new centre is supported by a range of 3-5 star hotels, most within walking distance of Te Pae. Conferences already booked include the New Zealand Dental Association 2020 Conference, 2021 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting and the Australasian Coasts & Ports 2021 Conference. Te Pae General Manger Ross Steele said these conferences are set to bring 28,000 people to the city, a third being international guests. The team is currently working with Christchurch NZ, and the local Universities, to look for events that will support the city’s sectors identified as key traditional knowledge areas, such as agribusiness and engineering, and growth areas such as food and fibre, health and wellbeing, and aerospace and transport in particular. Below: MCB staff are on hand to advise on the threat to events posed by bush fire outbreaks ISSUE 104 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / 35