Where Reef & Rainforest Abounds

There's a new Cairns emerging from an already-popular conference and tourism destination. Australia's tropical capital is creating a unique precinct strengthening Cairns' reputation as a meetings powerhouse.

Link to >> conference venues in Cairns.

The "New Cairns" project will rejuvenate the waterfront and the central business district, resulting in a world-class waterfront with improved access, and modern terminals and facilities for local and international business event delegates. The aesthetic appeal of Cairns is enhanced with a free-form swimming lagoon, attractive recreational areas, boulevards and plazas.

For business delegates, the New Cairns will bring the city's five-star properties and the Cairns Convention Centre together to form a "convention precinct" with accommodation, meeting space and transfer services located within minutes of each other.

The Cairns Convention Centre, which opened in 1996 and was further extended in 1999, has taken honours in a recently released convention industry survey.

Tropical Accolades

The Amsterdam-based International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) annually lists the world's top 100 cities based on the number of major international association congresses hosted each year. The 2002 ICCA survey placed the Cairns Convention Centre at 46th, based on the 14 major global events hosted that year. The only Australian cities to undertake more events in this category were Sydney and Melbourne, ranked 14th and 25th.

Cairns Convention Centre managing director Geoff Donaghy said that the Centre regularly features in worldwide industry surveys based on its facilities and service levels.

"However, this ICCA ranking measures actual events held which confirms that the city is now considered a genuine global convention destination," Mr Donaghy said.

Other Australian cities to feature in the 2002 ICCA Top 100 were Adelaide 55th, Perth 70th and Brisbane 71st.

Keeping Clients Satisfied

In another recent survey, the Cairns Convention Centre ranked fourth in the world according to the Brussels-based International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC). The survey is annually undertaken by a team of AIPC evaluators, who quiz event organisers and meeting planners. The fourth place listing for the Cairns Convention Centre placed it ahead of all other Asia Pacific venues.

It's events like the 2003 Asia Pacific Information Communication Technology Awards and Leaders Congress, held for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere, that periodically put Cairns at the top of survey lists.

In other North Queensland news, the Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas is in the midst of an extensive refurbishment that will transform all Deluxe Garden and Deluxe Lagoon View rooms with new colour schemes, artwork, fixtures and furniture.

Enhancements will include mini stereo systems, new light fittings and Tasmanian oak bedheads.

Magnetic North

In Townsville, the Peppers Retreats and Resorts hotel group has been selected as the operator of two new resorts to be part of the planned $100 million Marina Village tourism project on Magnetic Island. They will be known as the Peppers Blue On Blue Resort and Peppers Alma Bay.

Peppers Blue on Blue will be a world-class international-style resort while Peppers Alma Bay will be a low density Balinese-style retreat with spa and attached villas.

The Marina Village project will include a mix of holiday and owner-occupied two- and three-bedroom marina-front, lagoon and resort apartments.

Allied to the resort development will be a waterfront retail area that will include a tavern, alfresco restaurants, selected boutique retail outlets, and a large waterfront dining precinct overlooking the harbour and the ocean.

New Venues and Makeovers

The two Peppers projects will extend the group's presence in Queensland. The group currently operates Peppers Bloomfield Lodge Far North Queensland, Peppers Links Resort Port Douglas, Peppers Palm Bay Whitsundays, and Peppers Hidden Vale Lockyer Valley in south-east Queensland.

Ideal for corporate functions and events is the Reef HQ, the world's largest living coral reef aquarium and a major education centre for the Great Barrier Reef, which reopened in July 2002 following a multi-million dollar refurbishment. The IMAX Dome Theatre has also undergone technical upgrades, including the latest in hi-fi multi-channel sound and a new lens system to enhance the brilliance and clarity of its presentations.

The Quality Hotel Southbank has completed the third stage of an extensive refurbishment program that has already seen several floors of standard and superior rooms upgraded with new furniture, fittings, soft furnishings and bathrooms. The Anchorage Restaurant has also been refurbished and re-themed.