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
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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