Memorable Melbourne

This year, AIME welcomed 400 hosted buyers, 350 exhibitors and around 3,000 visitors to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre where more than 12,000 meetings took place. The event proved wildly successful with both planners and suppliers praising the buzzing atmosphere and the quality of the event.

“AIME is a brilliant event for networking and discovering new destinations. There’s a lot to see and do at AIME but it’s the people that make the event what it is. It’s a fantastic opportunity for both buyers and suppliers,” explained Ivan Wahyudi, an AIME 2023 hosted buyer and head of operations at the Jakarta headquarters of Samasta Tour and Travel, one of Indonesia’s largest travel agencies specialising in corporate travel management and business events.

But any seasoned event professional knows that the success of an event relies on so much more than the venue. It's often the event host destination that leaves a lasting impression on visitors, and when a destination is as distinctive as Melbourne, it’s hard to forget.

Wahyudi agreed, “Creativity is one of Melbourne’s trademarks. Melbourne has a relaxing vibe and it struck me as a place that has really got the balance right between work life and personal life.

“When I visit a new destination, one of the things I am always looking out for is how accessible it is, including the best ways to transport delegates. I was greatly impressed with Melbourne’s free tram service – it surprised me that a big city like Melbourne would offer this.”

Understanding the value of delegates

Melbourne has continued to invest in its business meetings and events offering since the construction of the Melbourne Exhibition Centre in 1996, followed by the addition of the Convention Centre in 2009. It soon became the first convention centre in the world to be awarded 6-star Green Star environmental rating.

And as Victoria’s largest event space grew, the city around it adapted.

In 1993, Melbourne had a capacity of around 4,000 hotel rooms for host delegates. It now offers 40,000 with an ambition to reach 42,000 by the end of the year.

Continued investment

The recently opened 257-room Ritz-Carlton Melbourne, offers panoramic views across the city. Its sky lobby reception is on level 80 of the hotel and the property features a heated infinity pool and pool deck. The hotel has 2,781 sqm of meeting and events spaces across several ballrooms and meeting rooms.

Accor also boasts 68 hotels in Victoria, 46 of which has meeting facilities.

“Melbourne really has it all – and is an ideal destination for all business events across the MICE spectrum,” explained Julia Swanson, CEO of the Melbourne Convention Bureau.

“We attract many of the world’s most prestigious international association events and corporate incentive groups who are seeking a destination that is an innovator in the events space supported by world-leading conference facilities and venues, excellent connectivity, quality accommodation, an extensive transport system and WOW experiences which are unique to Melbourne.”

“Our infrastructure really sets Melbourne apart from other global business events destinations. While Melbourne is an extremely compact city, it has the highest concentration of conference facilities in Australia with accommodation options all within walking distance of the city’s hot spots, plus it's just 20 minutes from Melbourne Airport, which not many cities around the world can boast.”

And the growth of Melbourne as a host city for meetings, events, conferences, exhibitions and incentives far surpasses impressive hotel infrastructure.

With the addition of multiple new precincts across the region, delegates can soak up Melbourne culture through arts, gastronomy, and history. In 2010, Melbourne welcomed South Wharf, an AUD1.4 billion precinct, offering food, shopping, entertainment, and hotels all conveniently close to MCEC.

Melbourne also boasts the Docklands precinct – a premier waterfront urban renewal project, and the Melbourne Biomedical Project in Parkville. Early works have also begun on an AUD1.7 billion Melbourne Arts Precinct transformation project.

Is Melbourne a sustainable city?

As the foundations are laid for each of the city's new event venues, sustainability is built into every brick.

Melbourne was ranked as the most sustainable city in Australia in 2022 and in 2021 it was announced as the most sustainable destination in the Asia-Pacific region for business events in the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index).

In 2020, the City of Melbourne developed a Climate Change Mitigation Strategy for 2050 which aligns with the Paris Climate Agreement. Melbourne has also adopted a Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030 that sets targets and identifies actions the city will take to reduce waste.

Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) is eager for event planners to ask them how they can create sustainable events in the city. MCB is there to guide, advise and inspire, plus its handy Melbourne Sustainability Toolkit provides a wealth of information on everything from accessibility to green transport options and creating a legacy through events to green venues.

What’s next for Melbourne?

Melbourne continues to reap the rewards of its continued, sustainable MICE investment with a jam-packed calendar of upcoming events.

Swanson said, “It’s going to be a big year for us. Obviously, with the industry reopening, last year was a transition year for everyone, but this year is shaping up to be really good. We’ve got a really strong calendar of both domestic and international events and we’re working hard to support them. We’ve got some phenomenal events coming including the World Rotary Congress which is about 14,000 delegates and not long after we’ve got the World Congress on Genetics.”

The Melbourne Convention Bureau recently announced it has 92 confirmed events for 2023, including 24 association and incentive events. Health, medical and science sectors account for 20 per cent of events scheduled across 2023, with business, education, engineering, and social and cultural sector events also taking place.

Events include the Berger Paints Gold Card & Super Gold Card Incentive Group of 1,100 delegates won for this June from our emerging India market and a large national business event, Foodservice Australia 2023, to be held in April for more than 1,700 delegates.

May 2023 will see 23 events take place across the city, including the Rotary International Convention, International Conference on Software Engineering – (ICSE) and SpineWeek, with close to 17,500 delegates arriving from these events alone.

These events are expected to attract 65,000 international and national visitors. The Rotary International Convention is the most valuable conference ever won for Victoria and is expected to attract Rotary members from 120 countries and regions worldwide.

Longer term, Melbourne has 141 international and national business events confirmed up until 2028 worth more than AUD895 million and is expected to attract close to 170,000 delegates equating to more than 450,000 room nights.

“Attending AIME meant I got to visit Melbourne for the first time and the city impressed me. It’s an accessible destination and easy to navigate. From my personal and professional experience of Melbourne, I know it’s a great host city,” added Wahyudi.