Daily News & Opinion

The naysayers could never have imagined the city of churches would rise to challenge the east coast with a massive multi-billion-dollar investment along its northern flank, but Adelaide is not done yet, with the South Australian Premier promising a $700 million city arena. While some are quick to point out that this is an election promise by Liberal Premier Steven Marshall, those in the business events sector will be rubbing their hands with glee. Read more

Aside from the NSW floods shutting down Newcastle Airport this week, it’s good news for aviation. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says opening up the Australia-New Zealand border was a priority but that quarantine free travel “was highly complex” – in the current circumstances being implied.  Flight Centre has also recently reported some positive statistics, flagging a “strong upwards trend for interstate domestic travel”. According to their numbers, domestic air ecommerce customer numbers moved from 53% of prior year bookings in January to 86% in March.

John O’Shea has been appointed general manager of The Langham Gold Coast and The Jewel Residences, due to open in 2022 in the three tower $1 billion Jewel development on the Gold Coast.  Born in Brisbane, O’Shea has been with Langham Hospitality Group since 2012 and has overseen six hotel openings in his more than 40-year career.  The opening of the 169-room luxury hotel has been delayed reportedly due to further renovations to the Langham’s space within the new towers, according to mainstream media.

To mark its 25th anniversary, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre is getting nostalgic with some of its Club Melbourne ambassadors. Up this week is Professor Philip Batterham, who has been a Club Melbourne Ambassador since the foundation of the program in 2005.  “My first international meeting [at MCEC], the International Congress of Genetics in 2003, was particularly special because this conference marked the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA and it was the year when the sequencing of the human genome […]

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For the past eight months, Simon Thewlis, Victorian event producer and one of the founders of the Save Victorian Events campaign has been campaigning for government support for all parts of the events industry. micenet spoke with him after the March 11 Federal Government announcement of National Economic Recovery Plan. Read more 

Gaby Appleton, who was recently product director for NHS Test and Trace in the UK, has joined Reed in this new role. Comments on her appointment by both Reed’s CEO and COO suggest that the company is trying to grow their year-round engagement with their event communities – which seems late in the game for such an exhibition heavyweight – but whether Appleton’s appointment is a move towards embracing permanent hybrid solutions as part of their offering remains unclear.  “With Gaby on board we will […]

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Following Anna Hayward’s resignation earlier this year, Richard Clarke, who joined Auckland Unlimited as Head of Major Events in January 2020, will combine his current role with leadership of the Auckland Convention Bureau, becoming Head of Major and Business Events. Other new team members at the Bureau include Kenneth Pereira who joins as Business Events Manager – Australia and Sarah Burilin, joining as Marketing and Communications Manager.

Reed Exhibitions have announced the show will now premiere 5-6 April 2022 in Singapore. “Although Singapore is considered a safe destination, IBTM Asia Pacific is a global event which attracts an international audience, and therefore we have a desire and a responsibility to give our attendees the safest and best possible in-person experience at a time when hopefully travel restrictions will have been lifted,” said Event Manager for IBTM Asia Pacific Michael Jones.