Traditional Values

The southern capital hides the wild, colourful nature that attracts so many conference delegates behind its historic facade.

There’s always been a sense of purpose and direction
about Melbourne. This straightforward temperament
has carried forward the determination to achieve and succeed. Thus, Melbourne is a city of go-getters, especially when it comes to the meetings market.

A competitive streak has seen constant battling for the top spot amongst Australian convention cities, pulling in more and more big prizes. While it mightn’t have the exquisite natural beauty of other cities, Melbourne has much to interest conference delegates.

Its purpose-built convention centre is consistently rated one of the best in the world. Its hotels win similar acclaim. Restaurants, whether fine dining or hip, casual cafes and brasseries, maintain a universally high standard. The nightlife is diverse and exciting, the range of museums and attractions almost never-ending and the quality of living can’t be beaten.

CITY’S PSYCHE

Melbourne’s character has much to do with a population drawn from some 100 nationalities and this generates an intense degree of pride and sense of ownership. A big convention or congress belongs to all of Melbourne and the population seems aware of how much economic benefits these corporate travellers bring in.

Melbourne is easily accessed by air with the Melbourne International Airport, located some 25 kilometres out of the city, handling some 17 million passengers each year. Through a series of well-connected freeways, the trip to the centre of the CBD takes just 30 minutes.

Melbourne is one of the world’s great convention cities. Its success in hosting major international conventions and congresses, as well as countless national and local meetings, is a testament to its superb facilities and services.

FASHION MOVES

It doesn’t hurt that Melbourne is also Australia’s most stylish capital with attractions galore and easy accessibility from other major ports.

History is never far from the visitor in downtown Melbourne. Many historic buildings have been recycled into hotels or restaurants. A new face of Melbourne emerged with the rejuvenation of the southern banks of the Yarra, which started near the beginning of St Kilda Road and moved steadily downriver.

In time, this has meant such social hubs as the Crown Entertainment Centre and the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre. The rejuvenation continues today as the formerly derelict Docklands area comes alive with residential and leisure facilities, office block and sports stadiums.

URBAN RENEWAL

A similar trend is beginning on the north bank of the Yarra with the creation of Federation Square which, by building over a former railway yard, has joined the city to the river in a celebration of art and culture.

Food has always been an important part of life in Melbourne and visits outside the CBD should be made to Carlton and its Italian eateries, to Richmond where Greek and Vietnamese restaurants exist in a culinary harmony, and to the quirky coffee shops and brasseries of South Yarra and St Kilda.

Melbourne also has a beach culture, although it’s a little different than those in northern cities. The shores of Port Phillip Bay provide an important social backdrop for the city and the beach suburbs are extremely popular, all the way south to the Mornington Peninsula.

KICK OFF

Sport is a religion in Melbourne and visitors would be advised to take in a game of Aussie Rules on a Saturday afternoon, when the city stops for its heroes. One of the biggest ever sporting events is heading to Melbourne in 2006. The XVIII Commonwealth Games will be the largest sporting event ever staged in Victoria with 4,500 elite athletes from 72 countries participating in 16 sports and 24 disciplines. Tourism forecasts for the Games indicate that 40,000 international visitors and 50,000 Australian visitors will come to Melbourne for the Games.

Running March 15-26, 2006, the Games will also include a 12 day cultural festival that will fill Melbourne’s parks and gardens with activity during the Games.

The Melbourne Convention and Visitors Bureau has much to celebrate with a host of major national and international conventions booked into the city. In 2005, such events include the 32nd Congress of the Neurootological and Equilibriometric Society, the 12th International Conference on Thinking and the 7th World Congress of Inflammation (Inflammation 2005). Also confirmed for Melbourne is the 21st World Congress of the International Traffic Medicine Association in 2006, the 4th Congress of the World Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery in 2007 and the 11th International Symposium on Radiation Physics in 2009.

GREATER CAPACITY

The biggest news in Melbourne is the decision by the Victorian State Government to build a new 5,000 seat Convention Centre. The new centre, which will have the capacity to host single conferences for up to 5,000 delegates or two concurrent 2,000 delegate conferences will be built adjacent to the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre on the south bank of the Yarra River.

Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks, said his government is committed to ensuring Melbourne’s reputation as Australia’s major business, events, science and biotech capital continues to grow.

“The new Convention Centre, to be opened in 2008, will make Melbourne the destination of choice in the global convention market,” Mr Bracks said. “It will bring major economic benefits to the State of Victoria, including an estimated increase in Gross State Product of $197 million per year and approximately 1,000 jobs during the construction phase.”

PUBLIC SUPPORT

The Government has committed up to $370 million towards the construction of the new Convention Centre facilities, which includes a $43 million contribution by the City of Melbourne.

Whilst final plans for the new centre are yet to be confirmed, Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre (MECC) chief executive Leigh Harry, said the Convention Centre will be physically joined to the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre creating one single facility enabling organisers to hold major international and national conferences and exhibitions together under one roof.

“The exhibition space and new plenary hall will be supported by multi-functional break-out rooms including meeting rooms and a ballroom, pre-function spaces, assembly space and food and beverage facilities, underground parking and the latest audiovisual and communication infra-structure,” said Mr Harry.

GATHERING OF MINDS

Conference organisers know Melbourne very well, even if they’ve never had events there. Each February, the meetings industry flocks to the southern capital for AIME, the AsiaPacific Incentives and Meetings Expo. Now operated by the global Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) organisation, AIME 2004 was a major success and set a number of records.

It covered more space, included more exhibitors and more buyers than ever before, and saw visitor numbers increase by more than 16 per cent to 2,540. The show occupied 4,282.5 square metres, an 8.67 per cent increase on AIME 2003. Exhibitor numbers increased by 110, from 647 in 2003 to 757, a 17 per cent increase. Exhibitors came from 45 countries.

Hosted buyer numbers also increased in 2004 with 376 hosted buyers attending, up from 331 in 2003. The Asia Hosted Buyer Program, a first for AIME 2004, resulted in an increase of quality Asian buyers to 56 in 2004.

AIME 2005, the 13th AsiaPacific Incentives and Meetings Expo, will be held on February 22-23 at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre.

ARTS AND MINDS

One of the success stories of recent times has been $450 million Federation Square project. Federation Square sits atop what was formerly the Jolimont Rail Yards and now unites the city with the Yarra River. Amongst its numerous attractions is the Ian Potter Centre, offshoot of the National Gallery of Victoria and Australia’s only major gallery dedicated exclusively to Australian art. The NGV Australia, as it is also known, presents the entire history of Australian art, from colonial times through the Heidelberg School to the modern day and includes photography, textiles, decorative arts, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.

The opening AIME 2004 welcome reception for 1,400 people was held at the Atrium at Federation Square with Epicure Catering providing the finger food. Epicure has exclusive operation of ZINC, a purpose-built events centre at Federation Square, seating up to 450 people for a sit-down dinner and up to 1,000 for cocktails.

Other Epicure operated venues include Melbourne Town Hall, the Pavilion at Fitzroy Gardens and the Harbour Room at the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron.

PICTURE PERFECT

In its first year, some 6 million people visited Federation Square. Together with an adjoining 8 hectares of parkland, the project is the beginning of what has been termed Northbank, a companion to Southbank just across the Queen’s Bridge.

Champions, the Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame, featuring Melbourne Cup trophies, photographs, whips, race books and other memorabilia, is another great Federation Square venue for a function or special event.

Delegates to AIME 2004 had the opportunity to check out one of Melbourne’s newest hotels. The Crown Promenade Hotel is the 4 star companion property to Crown Towers. With 465 guestrooms and suites, it includes the purpose-built Crown Conference Centre.

CROWN JEWEL

The pillarless Promenade Room can seat up to 750 delegates and host cocktail parties for up to 2,500 people, with a spacious pre-function or registration area complete with a bar, coffee shop, registration area and cloak room. A further 10 meeting rooms, all with natural light round out the facilities.

The hotel has a dedicated leisure area, The Deck, with an indoor 25 metre swimming pool, heated spa pool, gym, 2 outdoor sundecks, male and female sauna and steam rooms, and cafe with Internet access.

Averaging some 34 square metres, the rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows with ottoman window seats on which to regard the stunning views across the city. There is a choice of king beds or queen/queen configurations, a large desk that doubles as a dining table, individually controlled air-conditioning and a spacious bathroom with oversized shower. The $136 million Crown Promenade is linked to the Crown Entertainment Complex by an airbridge.

Taking into account Crown Towers and the Crown Promenade, Crown is now able to offer a total residential component of some 750 guestrooms for larger conferences.

Australia’s newest hotel group, Asian Pacific Hotels and Resorts, was recently launched with the announcement of a new hotel to be constructed in fashionable Collins Street. The chain, which com-menced with the $50 million 4 star 150 room Hotel William, will refurbish the former State Insurance Centre building with the project expected to open mid 2005.

NEW ARRIVAL

The company intended to operate 5 levels of travel accommodation: the 4 star Hotel William, the Hotel William serviced apartments, the 3 star William Motel, “sleep-and-go” 2 star accommodation, and William Lodge backpacker accommodation.

The Collins Street property will have 3 of the brandings under one roof – 4 star hotel rooms, serviced apartments and 2 star “sleep-and-go” rooms. Plans call for sister properties in Tasmania, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Canberra.

Back in 1994, before corporate health became such a hotly contested issue, the Hotel Y became Australia’s first smoke-free hotel. This year, it celebrates its 10th anniversary. The winner of 8 Victorian and Australian Tourism Awards in the last eight years, the 3 star property is popular with the corporate market. Of special interest to business people is such Hotel Y benefits as free access to a professional health club, which includes a gym, lap pool and squash courts, and a free IT facility including Internet access.

FRESH AIR

The Hotel Y is well respected for its facilities with its conference and events centre having 10 multi-purpose rooms including the function hall which holds up to 300 people in plenary mode or 180 for banquets. Some 92 per cent of all bookings at the conference and events centre are from return clients including some of Australia’s leading companies.

The RACV has a new conference and banquet centre in the heart of the city at 501 Bourke Street. There are 6 multi-purpose meeting and conference rooms on level 2, capable of accommodating up to 180 people, while a function room for up to 180 people is located on level 17. A private theatre for 48 people is capable of screening multi-media and visual presentations, with data points in the first 3 rows of seating for laptop computers.

The Bourke Street property complements the RACV City Club in Queen Street with a range of meeting rooms as well as 70 guestrooms and suites.

HERITAGE APPEAL

In July, the Royal Exhibition Building, built in 1880 for the Melbourne International Exhibition, was elevated to the World Heritage Register. The building that also hosted the opening of Australia’s first Federal Parliament in 1901 is today Australia’s most unique exhibition and events venue.

It has indoor floorspace exceeding 12,000 square metres over 2 levels and a further 7,000 square metres of outdoor space. While it has been used for large public exhibitions, it is also utilised for large-scale special events and cocktail parties. The gala dinner of the 13th Commonwealth Law Conference, which drew some 2,000 delegates from around the world, was held at the Exhibition Building in April last year.

Large numbers aren’t exactly a requirement of utilising this historic venue. In 2002, Nokia staged a formal dinner for 150 media delegates from throughout the Asia-Pacific region that ended with Harley Davidson motorcycles roaring through the halls.

A little out of the city, Quest Knox at Wantirna offers studio, one and two bedroom apartments and 3 dedicated conference rooms. The largest, the Panorama Room, seats 160 people theatre style or 140 for banquets. Located 23 kilometres out of the city, the Quest Knox is close to the Dandenong Ranges and at the gateway to the Yarra Valley vineyards.

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