Daily News & Opinion

Through corporate partnerships, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras gave out $248,000 in grants to LGBTQI+ community groups for this year’s festival season. “It was important for us to work with our partners on supporting the community, in both the short and long term,” said Mardi Gras CEO Albert Kruger.  Just one of its three grant programs, which distributed $100,000 in funding, resulted in over 200 artists, DJs and entertainers being engaged, 226 event staff employed and over $300,000 in revenue generated for venues.

The Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) has led the industry in praising Tourism Australia’s announcement of a $3 million one-year extension to the Business Events Bid Fund which provides direct financial assistance to international events to bring them to Australia. However BECA and other representative bodies, from the Australian Convention Centres Group (ACCG) to Meetings and Events Australia (MEA) have also renewed calls for immediate support for the industry to help it survive until more events resume. Read more

One of the most powerful people in the exhibitions industry, President & CEO of Informa Markets Asia Margaret Ma Connolly has been announced as one of the headline presenters for the virtual UFI Asia Pacific conference on May 20. Ma Connolly will talk about the future of multichannel events and discuss how the Informa Markets Asia portfolio has changed through COVID and where it’s headed. Informa Markets is the biggest expo and conference company in the world. 

Virgin Australia has announced major recovery actions, including returning 220 of its cabin crew to work and employing a further 150, as it looks to be at 80 percent of its pre-pandemic domestic capacity by mid-June. The airline will reintroduce 10 aircraft and add 220 extra return services weekly in the coming two months. Changes to routes and frequency include the addition of Melbourne-Hamilton Island and Melbourne-Darwin flights and extended seasonal flights between Melbourne and Balina Byron.

The 2021 edition of the Deloitte Access Economics Tourism and Hotel Market Outlook has forecast that pent up demand from 2020 is expected to support the kick-start of holiday travel, but business travel is expected to have a longer recovery. Deloitte Access Economics partner and Deloitte national tourism leader, Adele Labine-Romain says this will have critical implications for many corporate travel focused and convention-based hotels. Read more

Amanda Cottome (above) has joined TFE Hotels as Hotel General Manager & Brand Experience Manager of the new A by Adina Sydney, opening April 26. Cottome joins from Ovolo Hotel Group where she was Director of Brand Experience & Operations, Australia-wide. Meanwhile Saraid Carey joins the recently opened Hyatt Regency Brisbane as General Manager. Carey has been with Hyatt Hotels in various roles for over a decade, most recently as General Manager of Hyatt Regency Koh Samui in Thailand.

Damian Perry, Managing Director Asia Pacific/China for Hurtigruten Cruises said his company was among the only cruise lines to continue sailing through the pandemic period of 2020 with two to five ships plying the Norwegian fjords at any time. He said strict COVID-safe protocols had been implemented through the fleet and he believed cruising would return “by 2022, if not late 2021” while some cruises such as the Northwest Passage through the Arctic Ocean were already fully booked for 2022 with the company now taking […]

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The pain and the glory and the complexity of the events industry was on display at the first day of Victoria’s inquiry into the impact of the pandemic on the tourism and events industry. At times it was difficult to watch. Evidence given laid bare the stark losses faced by the industry and the lack of understanding that an industry that contributes $12 billion in direct spend to Victoria in a normal year even exists. Read more