Sydney picks up the pace

The past couple of months have been volatile times for all destinations trying to keep conference business coming in, but in addition to reacting to the events of September 11 and global economic downturn, Australia's convention industry has also had its hands full dealing with the collapse of a national airline, Ansett. Nevertheless, Sydney's convention players are refusing to let down times become bad times for the industry. "In spite of everything that's happened, I don't think Sydney has fared badly," Sydney Convention & Visitors Bureau (SCVB) managing director Mr Jon Hutchison admits. "We've recently held a number of international conferences and the only drop was in delegate numbers from the US at around 5%; international congresses are an essential part of business and education and the fact Sydney - and Australia - is a safe destination, is something conference organisers cannot ignore." The SCVB remains optimistic about the city's attraction as a conference destination. "In the three months up to June, we won almost everything we touched, achieving a 65% success rate securing 37 events, an increase of 23% over the previous year," Mr Hutchison adds. "While we cannot forecast anything, there are obvious actions we can take to ensure Sydney remains at the forefront of the conference organisers' minds in these times." One such action is an even stronger focus on targeting business from Asia. "We received a terrific response from the region following Dreamtime in July and this told me that we should pick up the pace with the region," Mr Hutchison says. "It remains part of our plan to increase our operations there and establish an office in Asia and plan sales missions to Singapore, Hong Kong and China, which is emerging quite strongly. We're also looking at beefing up Team Australia and taking up another Asian roadshow." And, while there has been a loss of routes from Asia previously provided by Ansett, Qantas will be launching the low-cost Australian Airlines into the region in the second half of next year meaning logistical problems are likely to be short-term. In addition, Sydney's professional conference organisers seek to encourage increased convention business. One example is ICMS pioneering an added-value congress card, offering incentives to register for events early. The city's experience in holding international conferences and its long-standing knowledge of the Asia marketplace is likely to hold it in good stead for increased business, Tour Hosts managing director Ms Roslyn McLeod believes. "We're close to Asia geographically, there's been a long affinity with the region and as Australians have had to be prolific networkers due to our isolated geographical position we have gone out to the world and learnt about their needs," she says. "Plus we're English speaking, which is a big plus if we're bidding for conference business against, say, South Korea or Taiwan." All these factors also leave the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre confident the Asia market will sustain healthy business levels; while it has received a few cancellations since September, none have been from Asia. "On the contrary, we would anticipate more requests for quotes for regional conferences from Asia Pacific and, while the Asian economic downturn in the early 1990s forced us to postpone plans to establish representation in conjunction with the SCVB in Asia, we are now looking at re-addressing this option and increasing our marketing emphasis in the region," general manager Mr Ton van Amerongen says. The centre has plenty to go to the market with. The facility comprises two convention areas offering a total of 30 meeting rooms; in convention centre north, capacity for up to 1,460 theatre-style is available and its meeting rooms span 90 theatre-style and reaching 3,500 in the Harbourside Auditorium. Over in convention centre south, 1,500 can be seated theatre-style in the ballroom or alternatively, an exhibition hall is often used for cocktail receptions and banquets seating 870. Since last year's Olympics, Sydney's hotel quota is peppered with the major global hotel chains, with many of the three-, four-, and five-star properties providing conference facilities, a fact Tour Hosts' Ms McLeod believes is beneficial to the conference industry. "We like to see competition, it means easier negotiation for clients," she says. "And it is the sheer size and variety of these hotels that makes Sydney such a good conference destination." Tour Hosts regularly uses The Regent, the Sheraton and the ANA hotels for combined conferences and accommodation. The 415-room Le Meridien remains one of the city's newest hotels. The 18-month old property sells itself as "group flexible", not only because it offers a ballroom seating 300 banquet-style and five further meeting rooms, but because groups can hire out any one of the three restaurants for exclusive use. "We also encourage people to use Lang Park opposite the hotel for picnic lunches or an Aussie barbecue on the wooden outdoor settings on the hotel's back patio," Le Meridien business development manager Ms Donna McKenzie adds. Social events make up an important part of any conference, and many of Sydney's hotels frequently allow groups to use their restaurants for dinners as well as their ballrooms. The 390-room Millennium Hotel is just one example. Aside from its five floors of dedicated conference space, with 14 function rooms catering for groups between six and 600, its Xu restaurant is available for group bookings. Offering a menu of Asian cuisines fused with modern Australian, the restaurant has a dedicated group section for 60 guests. Starwood Hotels & Resorts is also active in the Sydney market place and is represented by the 416-room Westin, the 558-room Sheraton on the Park, the 104-room W on Woolloomooloo and the 645-room Four Points by Sheraton, the latter having recently completed a refurbishment. Each Starwood property offers a variety of conference and event facilities; the Sheraton on the Park's grand ballroom accommodates 1,000 for a cocktail reception and the W is geared more towards the smaller groups with two meeting rooms seating 40. The Westin's facilities encompass a grand ballroom seating 1,500 theatre-style, a second ballroom for 350 theatre-style and eight meeting rooms in its Heritage Conference Centre. The Four Points by Sheraton also boasts a grand ballroom for 450 theatre-style. However, one challenge the city faces, according to ID Meetings & Events' general manager Ms Crowder, is that many Asian groups have already visited Sydney and the industry needs to showcase fresh ideas for conferences. Fortunately Sydney offers more than hotel conference rooms and convention centres for corporate events. As companies increasingly look to inspire their delegates, on Sydney Harbour they will discover cruise ships and a wide selection of restaurants all vigorously marketing to the conference sector. One of the largest, Captain Cook Cruises, has taken strong initiatives focusing on the Asia market for some time. "We go on sales missions to Japan and we have introduced a free cruise incentive to the event organiser," director convention sales Ms Tigi Coplestone says. "We're targeting corporates more than ever and we're also doing a lot more product launches. We find aboard a ship companies will have a captive audience for their meeting or presentation and then we can arrange either lunch or dinner, as well as entertainment." The company is set to launch a cocktail cruise for corporates at US$23 per person and this will complement its range of options for groups, including the Opera Afloat cruise. Its fleet of 12 vessels are all available to charter for meetings and functions. Investment in the groups market continues with Accor-owned Blue Line Cruises, which has recently launched the US$2.5million MV Majistic Two to accompany its MV Majistic and two Sydney Showboats. The company is targeting both the local and international markets, particularly in the meetings, conferences and incentives sectors. Majistic Two can accommodate up to 360 passengers and a sit-down function for more than 200 guests; its raised stage is ideal for corporate functions that include entertainment or requires audio-visual equipment. The vessel operates from King Street Wharf in Darling Harbour close to the SCEC, an area also home to several restaurants targeting the corporate sector. Nick's Restaurants - a chain of three (two seafood and one steakhouse), spread across King Street Wharf and Cockle Bay Wharf - is a member of the SCVB and actively supports conference bids into the city. The restaurants range in capacity from 140 to 520 and the latter, Nick's Bar & Grill, can be taken over in its entirety for groups. "In addition, we can cater for groups on board cruise vessels which dock at the wharf and then they can take part in a harbour sightseeing cruise," business development manager Ms Sarah Langley adds. "And we're happy to host familiarisation visits when conference organisers visit the city and the convention centre." Just along from Nick's is a space station-concept restaurant, Xerts, which has hosted functions for clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Citibank and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Its function room seats 120 theatre-style or 200 for a cocktail reception and the 300-seat restaurant has the technology enabling companies to broadcast their message or presentation across 12 large plasma screens. And the Asia market is a priority for the restaurant - Xerts is currently translating its menus into Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Aside from Darling Harbour, Ms Crowder believes there is so much more to convince Asian groups to come to Sydney. "Look to the city's icons - why not hold a cocktail reception in the Opera House's concert hall or dinners accompanied by opera," she says. "Or groups can take over all the restaurants at The Rocks, or 3km out of town is Tunks park where we once pitched a circus tent and brought in diverse flavours of Australia, such as boot-throwing and frog-racing. Alternative dining options include the Aquatic Centre at Homebush (the Olympics' site) where diving or synchronised swimming displays can accompany the dinner and the city's art gallery, the Powerhouse Museum or Maritime Museum, as well as small yacht clubs around the harbour, can all be used as function venues. Nevertheless industry players are aware they need to continue targeting Asian corporate groups to promote these alternative facilities. But it is clear despite domestic and global events, Sydney's conference industry is not going to disband its marketing activities. Indeed, corporate buyers based in Asia who have always been a priority for Sydney's conference industry have perhaps now become even more so.