Australia Style

The index is an international survey of 60 cities that assesses its people, climate, lifestyle, affordability, transport and presence on the world stage.
The Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB) has secured 35 major conferences and
business events for Sydney this year, worth more than US$68 million, and which are expected to attract more than 30,000 delegates.
The largest is the International Aids Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, which will bring 3000 experts to Sydney this month. It has also just secured the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Congress in May 2008 for 2,000 delegates.
SCVB managing director Jon Hutchison says while Sydney will not reach last year’s record-breaking highs, when it won 42 events including the 2008 World Youth Day with 200,000 delegates, he expects to end the year on a positive note.
“The big wins have slipped a little, but you don’t keep performing at record levels continuously,” he says.
“It’s been a tough year. Competition, particularly from the Asian region, has been exceptionally strong and even competition from other cities in Australia, such as Melbourne, has been particularly fierce.”
Sydney is still in favour with the Asian market – especially North Asia – which is where most of its future growth will come from, a trend driven by several factors.
“For the Asian market, one of the advantages Sydney has is we are virtually on the same time zone to most of the countries that we are pitching to. And that makes travel to and from Australia pretty painless,” says Hutchison.
“Another advantage is that we are a very different experience to much of what Asia has
on offer – geographically, the landscape, and the culture – and that is always important for
people looking for experiences. We also have a very fine track record for performance in
Sydney. Year after year Sydney produces some of the biggest and best events very well,
and that serves us well.”