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Melbourne Conference Venue News
Melbourne, the centre of attention
The Victorian capital continues to impress, with a range of facilities and a standard of service that are hard to beat.
Melbourne may have always felt it was in competition with Sydney, but the fact is, the Victorian capital is another world away. Traditional, yet with a stylish edge and quietly funky appeal, this city of almost four million people is one of the world’s great convention cities.
>> Conference & meeting venues Melbourne
A modern, efficient airport greets visitors on arrival, and after a 30 minute drive along well-maintained freeways, they are in the city enjoying its many charms. In recent years, Melbourne has well and truly supplied everything the domestic and international conference delegate may need, and this is certainly borne out by the statistics.
According
to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Melbourne
improved its position as a business events destination from 26th in the
world in 2003 to 11th in 2004, by doubling the number of business events
held in the city “This is a significant achievement for Melbourne.
The competition for major international conferences and meetings is fierce,
with countries actively competing for the world’s largest events,
in much the same way as they compete to hold the Olympic or Commonwealth
Games,” says Garry Kingshott, CEO of Melbourne Convention & Visitors
Bureau (MCVB).
THE BIG PICTURE
The National Business Events Study (NBES), released by Tourism Australia late last year, found that Victoria hosted more than 88,500 business events at 360 venues in 2003, with over 5.4 million delegates and generating over 22,600 jobs. These business events contributed $3.4 billion in direct expenditure to the Victorian economy in 2003, three times more than when last surveyed in 1999.
Australia-wide, Victoria ranks highly with a market share of 25 per cent, followed by Queensland with a 20 per cent. New South Wales has 27 per cent of the national market.
The study also found that Melbourne is the most popular destination for business events delegates to visit, prior to or following a conference or event. Seventeen per cent of pre and post-tours in Australia are to Melbourne. In 2003, these business visitors spent 260,500 room nights in Melbourne hotels.
“The study shows that Victoria is a major player in the business events industry, which includes meetings, conferences, exhibitions and incentive travel in Australia,” says Kingshott.
WHAT THE DOCTORS ORDERED
The Victorian Government’s $367 million commitment to a new 5,000 seat convention centre due for completion in 2008 has already allowed Melbourne to win a 4,000 delegate international convention.
The
International Congress of Internal Medicine (ICIM) will be held at the
new centre in March 2010. It will almost fill the venue, while the delegate
accommodation in Melbourne will be equivalent to filling every room in
Crown Towers for almost a month.
The announcement of the winning city was made at this year’s ICIM in Granada, Spain on 29 September, where representatives from MCVB made a final presentation to the bid committee.
“MCVB and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
(RACP) have collaborated over a number of years to win this important
international business event for Melbourne. We competed firstly against
Sydney, Cairns and Brisbane to
win the right to represent Australia’s bid, then faced strong competition
from Santiago and Istanbul,” says Kingshott.
EXPANDING FACILITIES
“To win an event like this for Melbourne requires a lot of support from the local industry,” Kingshott said. “Once again, Melbourne has shown that with our hotels, conference organisers, airlines and world-class convention centre, we can beat the best in the world.”
Victoria’s Tourism Minister, John Pandazopoulos,
said the new 5,000 seat convention centre would give Melbourne the facility
it currently lacks, to attract some of the largest conventions in the
world from the highest spending business delegates.
“The billions of dollars business events reap bring significant economic
benefits to many sectors of the Victorian economy – from taxi companies
to the restaurant and retail sectors, as well as 5 star hotels and regional
locations,” says Pandazopoulos. “Victoria is well positioned
to take an even larger market share of business events in Australia. The
new centre, to be opened in 2008, will make Melbourne the destination
of choice in the global convention market.”
SHOWCASING CHANGE
In the meantime, the Victorian meetings community continues to push its extraordinary facilities and destination. At the AsiaPacific Incentives and Meetings Expo (AIME) 2005, the combined Melbourne and Regional Victoria stand was the largest exhibitor, covering close to 250 square metres. MCVB and Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre (MECC) were joined by the new RACV Conference & Banquet Centre, 10 leading hotels, and a number of venues and attractions. Regional Victoria had around 20 exhibitors, including hotels, resorts, vineyards, conference venues, tourism bureaus and luxury accommodation.
MECC executive chef, Frank Burger, continues to intrigue delegates with his outstanding new menu, which guests have labelled as innovative and flavoursome. Director of sales and marketing, Ms Petrina Gillespie, says the centre is renowned for its food and beverage services and, each week, the staff creates more than 12,000 meals for national and international events and meetings.
The menu is influenced by Melbourne’s cultural diversity – a distinct characteristic of this great city. There is an assortment of dishes in the new menu that draws attention to the taste offerings from Asia and South America, as well as Burger’s favourites from the Mediterranean. Also influencing the MECC menu choice are current dining trends, with Melbourne ahead of other cities in terms of setting or revisiting trends. Selections from the menu celebrate the sharing experience of dining, with the introduction of yum cha and tapas as special features for an event or function.
GREAT VENUES
Melbourne’s latest meetings and special events facilities stress the city’s unique sporting associations. The AFL Hall of Fame is located on the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale Streets in the very heart of the CBD. Both the Hall of Fame and the Members Wing are available for after-hours corporate hire, with groups able to arrange guided tours of the facilities and maybe even snag a couple of AFL legends for their event.
Champions
at Federation Square showcases an interactive horse racing museum that,
amongst its many exhibits, includes a number of Melbourne Cup trophies,
along with racing colours, race books, photos and historical paintings.
Home to the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, it has a top floor events
and function space that can accommodate 350 people for cocktail parties
or 200 for sit down banquets.
Federation Square itself is teeming with great events facilities, including the Ian Potter Centre (or NGV Australia), with its outstanding collection of Australian art. It is capable of hosting cocktail parties for up to 4,000 people. Also in Federation Square is the Australian Centre Of The Moving Image, devoted to film and multimedia presentations.
The $190 million refurbishment of the historic State Library of Victoria is expected to be completed by 2007 and will include a new conference centre. Together with such other heritage gems as the Royal Exhibition Building, constructed in 1880 to house the Melbourne International Exposition and now a leading special events and exhibition space, the city’s wealth of venues are staggering in their range and attractions.
BETTER MEETINGS
In July, the Grand Hyatt Melbourne will unveil a fully renovated and state-of-the-art banquet facility, including a stylish and contemporary refurbishment of the hotel’s famous Savoy and Mayfair Ballrooms.
At the Sofitel Melbourne, an $18.5 million transformation of the guestrooms and suites is currently underway. Guestroom improvements will include the provision of mood lighting and six-speaker digital surround-sound delivered through integrated in-room technology. The 11 month project began in October last year and is being carried out floor by floor. This includes the re-design of the 50th floor, which will feature 10 suites, an executive lounge, and a health and wellbeing suite.
General manager of the Sofitel Melbourne, Erik Stuebe, says the hotel had spent a year developing and refining concepts that took into account corporate guest feedback about room features and amenities. “While many guests want the latest technology, they do not want to be confronted by complexity,” explains Stuebe. “We have integrated our in-room technology and made it extremely simple to operate via a small touch screen that controls lighting, DVD/CD facilities, movies, radio, plasma screen and surround-sound.”
TECHNOLOGY PLUS
Desk-side technology allows laptop computers and video cameras to be connected to the 1.27 metre plasma screen. Broadband and wireless Internet access is available, and laptops with wireless access will automatically connect to the Internet.
Some room features are activated automatically –
for example, if a movie is run, room lights will dim. Guests will never
stumble into the bathroom at night fumbling for the light switch, as a
low-level light is activated when the bathroom is entered.
The redevelopment complements the extensive upgrades carried out to the
Sofitel Melbourne’s conference facilities over the past three years.
This included extending the Grand Ballroom banqueting capacity to 850
people, and installing state-of-the art sound and lighting both in the
ballroom and the new Terrace function area nearby.
ROOM TO MOVE
The Punt Hill Apartment Hotel Group has expanded its operations to include almost 400 apartments, making it one of the largest serviced apartment operators in the Melbourne Metro area. The group’s most recent acquisition in the Melbourne CBD is the 76 room apartment hotel, formerly the Chifley, in the heart of Melbourne’s famous China Town. This is Punt Hill’s third apartment hotel in the Melbourne CBD.
This property, renamed Punt Hill – Little Bourke, comprises one and two bedroom apartments, a conference centre, indoor swimming pool, gymnasium and business centre. The well known Tea House restaurant opens onto the foyer.
This latest Punt Hill acquisition represents the ninth apartment hotel operated by Punt Hill in Melbourne, and is the second property acquired by the group this year from rival operators. In January last year, Punt Hill took over Manhattan Apartments on Flinders Lane from the Southern Cross Group. In addition, two new custom-built Melbourne suburban locations are being planned for the end of 2005.
In August last year, Melbourne’s theatre district welcomed a new-look hotel with the re-branding of the All Seasons Crossley Hotel to The Crossley Hotel Managed by Mercure, following an extensive million dollar refurbishment. A fresh contemporary look to the hotel’s 88 guestrooms complements the superb location on Little Bourke Street, just a short walk to China Town.
STYLISH SURROUNDINGS
The hottest name in boutique accommodation has arrived
in Melbourne, with the opening of the Vibe Hotel Savoy Melbourne and the
Vibe Hotel Carlton (formerly the Hotel Laureate). Formerly the Savoy Park
Plaza on Little Collins Street in Melbourne’s CBD, the Vibe Savoy
Hotel Melbourne was built in 1929 and has 163 rooms, including six suites.
There are five conference rooms, one of which is a stylish ballroom.
