hospitalitybiz.org

Australia’s top players in the lucrative conventions market have put aside their traditional rivalry to launch a new representative body as part of joint strategy aimed at growing the country’s share of the conference market.

Conventions Australia will target the international association market primarily in the key regions of Europe and North America with the aim of increasing the number of future confirmed conventions in Australia by 10 per cent by 2010.

The new organisation is a partnership between 12 venues and convention bureaux, representing the entire country and eight international convention destinations—Cairns, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and the Northern Territory.

Conventions Australia chairman Martin Winter said its goal is to reinforce Australia’s track record in hosting memorable and successful conferences and increase its standing as one of the world’s top ten conference destinations.

He said the Conventions Australia chairman Martin Winter said the new organisation had overcome the traditional rivalry between Australian cities to present a united face for the country’s conference sector.

“Despite the success of individual cities and our ranking as the world’s number eight conference destination, Australia has never before promoted itself as a whole to the international association market,” Winter said.

“In creating Conventions Australia, we draw on our collective strengths to show that Australia not only offers a remarkable experience for the leisure traveller, it also provides a sophisticated business environment with a thriving economy and a highly professional conference industry.”

Conventions Australia was launched in Frankfurt at the IMEX exhibition for the international meeting and incentive industry. It will mount an initial three-year marketing campaign involving advertising, direct mail, an integrated website, public relations and the development of collateral including fact sheets, case studies, DVD presentations and an image library.