Perth cash incentives for meeting organisers

PERTH The Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre (PCEC) has launched a new visitor incentive campaign to secure 10,000 delegates to Western Australia following the centre's opening in mid-2004. PCEC chief executive officer Mr Peter Brokenshire said the campaign, titled "Delegate ReWArds Programme", provided cash incentives for organisers who book national or international conferences at the PCEC. "The Delegate ReWArds Programme gives the organiser an added bonus in booking with the centre. It takes some of the pressure off the organisers' marketing budget if they know they are going to receive extra cash to attract more people to the centre and Western Australia," Mr Brokenshire said. An allowance of US$1 per full-paying delegate will be paid on estimated attendance for conferences booked with deposit paid prior to June 30, 2003. For a conference anticipating 1,000 full-paying delegates organisers will receive US$1,000 cash assistance to encourage additional marketing. In addition to this initial incentive, the more delegates the organiser attracts, the more they are rewarded at the completion of the conference. For every full-paying delegate attending the conference, the PCEC will provide an additional US$1 reward. "That's up to a (US$2) incentive for every delegate when a conference chooses to use the PCEC," he said. "This cash provides significant encouragement for organisers to boost delegates, therefore attracting more people into Perth and Western Australia," he said. Mr Broeckenshire added some conditions are applied to the programme and organisers should discuss the deal with the PCEC while making a booking for their event.