Daily News & Opinion

The 20th annual Sell TNQ event took place in Cairns and Port Douglas last week, with buyers from around Australia gathering to learn about hosting events in Tropical North Queensland. The event saw 90 applications submitted for the 30 buyer positions, and 30 member products were on show. Delegates took part in a number of experiences, including drinks at AJ Hackett Cairns, and a site visit to the newly-refurbished Novotel Cairns Oasis where an ‘amazing race’ competition took place.

Australia’s leading hotel management course specialist, The Hotel School, has officially launched a campus in Brisbane. A joint venture between Southern Cross University and Mulpha Australia, The Hotel School already has campuses in Sydney and Melbourne which boast a 95 per cent employment rate within six months of graduation. The opening ceremony took place on Friday, November 15, with the honourable Kate Jones launching the campus.

Following the success of the inaugural Opera Australia performance at Uluru this year, the opera will return to the destination between December 11 and 13. At the show’s main event, Opera at Uluru, Australia’s finest opera singers will perform against a backdrop of the Field of Light installation. CEO of Voyages Grant Hunt said that with the Uluru climb now closed, it’s more important than ever to create experiential options.

Melbourne and regional Victoria will welcome 50,000 delegates from across the globe between tomorrow and Sunday as part of The International Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses 2019, delivering $60.9 million to the Victorian state’s economy. The delegates will hail from 71 countries, and will partake in a range of pre and post conference regional tours.

Executive chef at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) David Pugh has been recognised for a lifetime of promoting local produce with an #eatqld champion accolade. On the recognition, Queensland’s minister for agricultural industry development and fisheries, Mark Furner said “David [has] spent a number of years championing our local produce and developing a strong rapport with farmers and local growers and understanding the issues they faced getting their produce to market.”

Plans for a 237-metre hotel and apartment tower located in Pyrmont have been rejected by The Independent Planning Commission. The commission found that the building would “result in unacceptable built form, including a tower of a height which is overly obtrusive and that will result in unreasonable and unacceptable impacts with respect to view loss, visual impact, and overshadowing.” The plan included a 220-room Ritz-Carlton hotel and function spaces.

As part of its one year anniversary, voco has introduced a ‘tread lightly’ initiative to circumvent waste. The initiative involves a paper-less check-out system, including all receipts, invoices and IHG Rewards Club points. As part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability, voco has already used half a million plastic bottles for its bedding, and voco Kirkton Park alone has reduced its carbon emissions by 20 per cent, water usage by 13 per cent and has increased recycling by 26 per cent.

Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney has announced its support toward Australian drought victims through many initiatives running through November and December. The hotel’s food and drink outlet, The Fax Bar will be donating $5 from every Great Northern beer sold to charity Drought Angels; and one per cent of every conference or events package or Christmas ornament sold will be donated to Drought Angels. Developed in 2014 by two Queensland women, Drought Angels helps deliver food hampers to farmers.