TTGassociations Publications January 2019 | Page 23

Direct international
flights give fillip to
association conferences
as the Australian capital
city courts regional
and global market. By
Gerardine Donough-Tan
Canberra comes into its own
Left: National Convention Centre Canberra gets
dressy for a gala dinner
Above: Canberra Airport welcomes more
international airlines, making the Australian
capital even more accessible
C
investment opportunities and tourism to
the economy” and pledged to continue
working with the airline to promote the
expanded service in key Asian and Euro-
pean markets, a commitment echoed by
SIA in Australia.
“Canberra is an ‘emerging’ destina-
tion for the international conference and
conventions market, but the attraction
and delivery of international conferences
(in the purest sense) is still in its early
stages,” acknowledged Carla Huetter,
director of sales and marketing, National
Convention Centre Canberra (NCCC).
So, key stakeholders are bidding for
more business, and thereby live up to the
city’s name. Canberra is believed to have
originated from a local Aboriginal word
for ‘meeting place’.
The Canberra Convention Bureau
(CCB) actively targets conferences rang-
ing from 50 to 1,500 attendees from
Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas.
Strong economic sectors are cyber
anberra, a popular choice for
domestic association meetings,
saw its market potential grow
when Singapore Airlines (SIA)
launched four-times weekly non-stop
flights from Singapore in September
2016. The ‘Capital Express’ to Welling-
ton, New Zealand, was delinked in May
2018 in favour of daily flights to Canberra
via Sydney.
With Qatar Airways’ starting a daily
non-stop service from Doha in February
2018, Canberra now has twice-daily di-
rect connections to the rest of the world.
Other airlines are in talks to begin direct
flights too.
Since the commencement of direct
flights in 2016 up to end-June 2018,
Canberra has seen a 19.5 per cent rise in
international visitation.
VisitCanberra commented that SIA’s
increase in frequency would provide “an
additional 40,768 additional seats annu-
ally, bringing significant benefits in trade,
security, defence, agribusiness, research
and education, space and spatial science,
renewable energy, health, social and
sports science.
“The Bureau identifies potential bid
leaders from associations and academic
institutions – knowledge leaders involved
with international conferences, particu-
larly those aligned with Canberra’s key
sector strengths,” explained Avon Dissan-
ayake, a spokesperson with CCB.
Many of Canberra’s research organisa-
tions, academic and cultural institutions
partner with CCB through the Research
and Learning Institutes Group. Besides
assisting in bid proposals, it adds value
to business events, giving event organis-
ers direct access to the latest projects
being conducted in Canberra’s academic
and research institutions.
For instance, in February, the Annual
Australasian Aid Conference will bring
together researchers from across Aus-
tralia, the Pacific, Asia and beyond who
are working on aid and international
development policies.
The 13 th International Convention on
Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive
Technology is targeting more than 500
international delegates – mainly from
Asia-Pacific – in August 2019.
Robyn Chapman, CEO of Assistive
Technology Australia, said: “Canberra’s
proximity to the Asia-Pacific region
and the city’s facilities, including the
purpose-built National Convention Cen-
tre Canberra, make it an ideal location to
host this significant event. Canberra also
provides access to the Federal Govern-
ment for the policy issues we will be rais-
ing on the assistive technology agenda.”
Museum Galleries Australia is aiming
for 600 delegates at its conference in
May 2020. The three-day programme