Produced in partnership with Visit Sunshine Coast Business Events
For business events, this makes the Sunshine Coast an increasingly attractive proposition, offering incredible experiences alongside quickly developing infrastructure that supports groups and a growing draw for tech, medical and other industries.
On top of all this, the destination’s bureau, Visit Sunshine Coast Business Events, is helping planners connect the dots of the Sunshine Coast’s potential, to create unforgettable and effective meetings and conferences.
Making bleisure a point of connection
Visit Sunshine Coast’s head of business events, Ali Thompson-Ennis, says the bureau is working with event organisers to bring more destinational experiences into meeting programs, redefining the applicable scope for that combination of business and leisure known as bleisure.
“We’re incorporating bleisure into the actual conferencing itself as opposed to just pre and post,” she says.
For Thompson-Ennis, this means having breakout sessions while cruising down the Mooloolaba Canal or one-on-one corporate catch-ups kayaking in the Noosa Everglades. It can also mean taking delegates to the beach to get the sand between their toes as part of their conference welcome or having sunny breakfast meetings outdoors against the spectacular backdrop of the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
“These are experiences that really enable you to touch the heart and expand the mind and bring the best out in people, which in turn results in peak performance,” says Thompson-Ennis.
She believes immersing delegates in the stunning natural landscape of the Sunshine Coast does plenty for business outcomes.
“It enhances clarity. It enhances collaboration. It enhances conversation,” she says.
“It’s taking them away from the intensity of the cities and putting them into this blue-sky environment that naturally encourages blue-sky thinking, which allows them to better collaborate because they are more relaxed and open-minded.
“It would be very challenging to get that same kind of outcome in a boardroom environment.”
Across the Sunshine Coast, activities that can be tailored for a business events audience range from animal encounters at Australia Zoo to go-karting challenges and swimming with whales in the ocean during the humpback highway season.
“These experiences are not cookie cutter. They are not the type of experiences that a tourist could have, they are bespoke,” says Thompson-Ennis.
A bespoke CSR initiative for business events incoming
This winter, Visit Sunshine Coast Business Events will launch a CSR program for event groups, connecting planners with a curated selection of local charities to create unique CSR programs based on individual organisations’ goals, that benefit both the conferencing community and the local region.
The new program was inspired by a CSR request from a conference group from O’Brien Electrical & Plumbing. The request resulted in 100 volunteer tradesmen delivering $100,000 worth of upgrades to the Maroochydore Neighbourhood Centre during the O’Brien Advantage Conference on the Sunshine Coast.
Thompson-Ennis says the bureau has identified six charities ready to work with the business events market as part of the new initiative.
“Rather than having cookie cutter products that they have to pick from a catalogue or suite of products, we will put the event organiser in touch with the charity and they can discuss themselves to get the best outcomes for both organisations.
“It could be that it aligns with the skill set of the delegate type. Or it could be that it aligns with the core values of the organisation itself.”
A pre-2032 infrastructure boom
Traditionally a destination catering to family holidays, the Sunshine Coast’s infrastructure is fast evolving to service the corporate market.
In May this year, the 180-room Avani Mooloolaba Beach Hotel opened bringing five new event spaces to the Sunshine Coast with capacity for up to 300 delegates.
Shovels are in the ground for two key hotel projects – a 180-room Crowne Plaza in Maroochydore, which will have more than 770m2 of event space, and the luxury 186-room Calile Noosa – from the same team behind the globally acclaimed hotel The Calile in Brisbane.
Existing properties are also getting serious upgrades, with the Sofitel Noosa Pacific getting an all-round, stripped-back-to-the-shell revamp to become Elysium Noosa Resort, although remaining under the Accor umbrella after the name change. Meanwhile, the Novotel Sunshine Coast Resort is in the midst of a $20 million renovation, upgrading nearly half of its room stock, alongside its event spaces.
Looking further ahead, there’s a hotel on the cards for Sunshine Coast Airport, with the airport putting a call out to the private sector in April to develop a 4-to-4.5-star property to service both the business and leisure markets. The airport is currently undergoing a $170 million expansion that will double the size of the terminal and increase airline capacity by 40 per cent.
Maroochydore is also set to get a major new venue for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, with an arena as part of the development. Post-Olympics, it is understood the venue will offer significant convention space.
A strong industry offering
The Sunshine Coast’s tranquil and abundant natural landscape and its gentler pace belie a growing profile as a hub for several industries.
The Sunshine Coast will soon have two international submarine data cables connecting it to the US, Asia and Fiji. The cables provide faster, more reliable internet speeds and digital connectivity and lower data costs, acting as a pull for tech companies to set up shop and meet on the Sunshine Coast. The region is also home to a data centre, with a second one under construction.
Aside from technology, the Sunshine Coast Health Institute in Kawana puts the destination in the spotlight for medical meetings, with event spaces sitting alongside simulation suites and simulation wards, providing essential facilities for health sector training.
Agriculture and agricultural manufacturing are also a key industries on the Sunshine Coast, with more than 900 local producers in the region, growing everything from strawberries to pineapples, macadamia nuts and coffee.
“It’s enchanting [to meet on the Sunshine Coast] from an agricultural perspective because the produce is so visible on the landscape, it’s just all around you,” says Thompson-Ennis.
Demand rising
Figures from Visit Sunshine Coast Business Events activity show just how much demand is rising for the region. Pre-pandemic, the bureau helped lock in around $27 million in business events in the 2018-2019 financial year. In the most recent full financial year, the bureau had a hand in $100 million worth of business events for the Sunshine Coast.
The recent Sunshine Coast roadshow event in Sydney also evidenced this increasing interest. In 2024, the last time the bureau did a three-destination showcase, it collectively garnered $60 million in business leads. In 2026, the Sydney leg of the roadshow alone drew $45 million in potential business events for the Sunshine Coast.
“I would say we are definitely a hot spot as a business events destination,” says Thompson-Ennis.
“I think what’s really setting us apart here is this huge growth trajectory that we’re on.
“If you want something new and unique and magical, you’ve got to come to the Sunshine Coast.”
