Melbourne venues target overseas potential Sep 01

Melbourne has long had the reputation as one of the world's most livable cities, and the city's exhibition centres are proving to be business friendly too. The grand dame of Australian exhibition venues is the Royal Exhibition Building (REB), which was built in 1880, in the leafy Carlton Gardens. It is part of the Melbourne Museum Precinct and adjacent to the recently opened Museum of Victoria. The REB complements the Melbourne Exhibition Centre (MECC) located opposite Crown Casino on Melbourne's South Bank. MECC is Australia's largest dedicated exhibition space, with some 30,000sqm of air-conditioned, pillar free and fully serviced exhibition space. It is located across the Yarra River from the Melbourne Convention Centre and has the same management team. While it is not an entirely satisfactory situation having the venues separated, the exhibition complex makes up for it in part through its own auditorium and suite of meeting and function space. MECC chief executive Mr Leigh Harry is the first to admit the complex does not provide all the answers for Melbourne's exhibition needs. Secondary venues such as the REB and the Melbourne Showgrounds also have important roles to play in the future development of the city's exhibition business as do racing venues such as Flemington and Caulfield. The Showgrounds recently completed the construction of a fully serviced 1,600sqm exhibition building. Pac Print is the largest trade show in its class in Australia and has a number of Asian visitors attending. According to Mr Harry, the show is obliged to use the MECC as it is the only venue which is equipped to have the working displays the print industry requires for its showcase event. "We've been operating the exhibition centre for five years and with occupancy running at around the 70% mark we are ahead of our projections," Mr Harry says. "One has to bear in mind the venue is vacant for much of the December and January summer holiday season. This is the situation for exhibition and conference centres the world over." One of MECC's major shows each year is Furnitex, a trade and part public showcase for the furniture industry, this year held in late July. Mr Graeme Waterson, who manages the event on behalf of the Furnishing Industry Association of Australia, says the move from Flemington Race Course five years ago to the MECC transformed the show. "This year we had about 1,000 of our 12,000 visitors come from overseas, many from Asian countries. This is mainly due to the quality of the show and the convenience of the venue," he says. At the REB, sales manager Ms Barbara-Sue Dressing says the $US4million refurbishment of the building, which hosted Australia's first Parliament in 1901, has brought about a surge in business for the venue, which offers some 11,500sqm of exhibition space. "Prior to the opening of the MECC we were doing just 16 events a year, but since our refurbishment and the opening of the museum next door we are now hosting upwards of 60 events annually. We are the "boutique" alternative to the MECC and our rates are just about half of theirs per square metre" she says. The historic REB is used as an alternative venue for gala dinners and ceremonies for conferences at the MECC. Mr Graeme Selby, chief executive officer of Australian Exhibition Services, a company which uses MECC exclusively for its large trade shows, says the centre is large, efficient and flexible enough to meet his company's needs. "The absence of significant competition means we are captive to the MECC rates and many exhibitors have to think long and hard before committing due to the relatively high cost of participation," Mr Selby says. "The window of opportunity to exhibit is very narrow due to many factors such as holidays, seasonality and competitor events. We really could do with another 15,000sqm venue with good conference facilities located within the complex." Mr Selby said tourism marketing bodies, convention bureaus and government should work harder to attract more exhibition visitors to Melbourne from overseas. "There's huge potential in south-east Asia and the Middle East, which really should be tapped. These events bring in significant revenue to airlines, taxis, restaurants, hotels and retail," he says. And how else can Victoria's capital hope to tap the Asia Pacific market? Mr Selby also believes Austrade (Australia's export marketing organisations) should be promoting Australian exhibitions abroad more aggessively.