“We’re excited to be taking the Australian Event Awards and Symposium to a regional location,” said Event Awards managing director, Ian Steigrad.
“It has always been important to us to take the awards and symposium to areas of Australia that can benefit from exposure to the wider events industry and from which the industry can also benefit.
“We were looking for a destination that can help us to grow the industry while simultaneously leveraging Australian events to benefit the destination. I think we’ve found a great fit here with Coffs Harbour.”
Coffs Harbour is half way between Sydney and Brisbane and has direct flights from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
Two sites in Coffs Harbour were also recently identified as possible locations for a potential convention centre development in the region.
“From internationally significant sports contests through to industry conferences we are a major regional player,” said the City of Coffs Harbour mayor Nikki Williams.
“And we are ambitious as we continue to leverage our infrastructure and natural advantages – including being NSW’s first ECO destination.”
The partnership to bring the Australian Event Awards and Symposium to Coffs Harbour also has support from Destination NSW.
This is not the first time the event has been held regionally, with the Sunshine Coast hosting the industry in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Entries for the 2025 Australian Event Awards will open in April.
The exact dates and venue for the conference and awards ceremony in 2025 will be announced in the new year.
Winners of the Australian Event Awards in 2024 included some of Australia’s most significant public and business events alongside small and large industry businesses.
Amongst the winners were Vivid Sydney, Parrtjima – A Festival in Light, the AIATSIS Summit, Nectar Creative Communications, Dionysus and TDC.
The Event Symposium also attracted some major industry figures as speakers, from both business events and major events.
Sandy Hollway AO, former CEO of the organising committee for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and Matt Carroll AM, the current CEO of the Australian Olympic Committee, shared the stage, while industry legend Peter Jones, risk expert Craig Sheridan and Libbie Ray from Connected Event Group also spoke.
