Daily News & Opinion

This week the NSW Government’s Visitor Economy Strategy 2030 was launched. The plan provides a roadmap to help the visitor economy recover and to grow it to $65 billion by 2030. Events have been listed as a key tactic to achieve the goal, with an accelerated investment in business events planned for the future. It is hoped that attracting these events will: “Position Sydney and NSW as the events capital of the Asia-Pacific, drive visitation and enhance the social wellbeing of NSW residents.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has produced a silver lining when it comes to domestic travel and the Sunshine Coast is an example of a region that has boomed. The latest National Visitor Survey (NVS) was released by Tourism Research Australia this week, reporting that between July 1 and September 30, 2020, the Sunshine Coast posted a 39.7 per cent increase in intrastate visitors, compared with the same period in 2019.

Jeanette Stanton has been appointed events project manager for Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA). She will be re-joining New Zealand’s industry association next month, following six years as marketing and business events services manager with Auckland Convention Bureau. Previously she was instrumental in developing and managing key events such as MEETINGS and the industry annual conference as part of the BEIA team (then known as Conventions and Incentives New Zealand).

Our first young gun for 2021 is a bona fide superstar – marketing executive for Reed Exhibitions and recipient of the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia’s (EEAA) Richard Geddes Young Achiever Award Alysia McAuliffe. Alysia broke into the industry after attending an exhibition with her previous company where she was captivated by the chaos and thrill of pre-show organisation. Since then, she has gone from strength to strength, cementing herself as a respected event professional before the age of 30.

InterContinental Hotels Group has announced that Hotel Indigo Sydney Centre will open in 2025. The 110-room hotel will sit atop the City Tattersalls Club’s premises in a newly-renovated, 49-storey mixed-use tower. The tower includes new restaurants, an event space, wellbeing facilities and more. Hotel Indigo is famed for its neighbourhood story concept, and the new hotel will embrace its origin tale as a space created by 25 bookmakers which has over time become one of the most respected community clubs in Sydney.

Make your Melbourne event comeback at The Langham Melbourne and score a host of enticing benefits. Planners who make a booking at the hotel before March 31, 2021, for events held between January 1, 2021 and December 30, 2021, with a minimum spend of $6000, can select three benefits from a list of eight. Discover the benefits on offer here: http://image.e-langhamhotels.com/lib/fe3511717164047e741779/m/2/b1b4154e-6bc9-491d-9dfb-5120d77c785b.png

AV1 has started off 2021 with a bang by launching ControlRoom 2.0 – a new and improved studio located within the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA). ControlRoom 2.0 is ideal for the hosting of virtual and hybrid events and has been re-designed from the ground up with a technical upgrade. Features include seamless switching between any content source; a 7.2m LED wall; a brand-new tech control room located in an adjoining room; ceiling-mounted lighting and foldback monitors; and a dedicated station to manage remote […]

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Parmelia Hilton Perth has undergone a major $45 million transformation. Updates include the introduction of touchless technology, a new thoroughfare to the cultural, shopping and dining precinct of Brookfield Place, 32 new rooms, new standards of cleanliness and disinfection, a revitalised lobby, the addition of an executive lounge and a refurbished restaurant. The hotel will re-open for guests next month. Hilton Perth boasts 410 sqm of event space which spans five meeting rooms.