SCVB wins award at MEA conference

The award was announced at a gala dinner at Conrad Jupiters on the Gold Coast, an event coinciding with the MEA National Conference which attracted 680 delegates from around the country. SCVB managing director Jon Hutchison said: "This award covers an excellent period for the SCVB in which we achieved a bid success rate of 71 per cent and secured events like the 13,250-delegate Amway Asia incentive meeting held in January last year." He added: "We were very pleased with last year's results and are even happier to report we've exceeded them in the current year. "Our strike rate has since increased to 76 per cent and bid wins like the 2014 Rotary International Convention for 22,000 delegates mean the current financial year will be our most successful ever." The MEA award came as the International Conference and Convention Association released figures confirming Sydney's position as Australia's top events destination and one of the top 20 destinations in the world. The ICCA figures also showed Australia is now the world's number eight country for events (see News p4). The SCVB also welcomed several MEA awards for its members. The Sales and Marketing Person of the Year award went to Donna Kessler of Wollongong Conference and Events, while the Catering and Banqueting award went to Sydney Showground.