Melbourne:
Mixing business with pleasure
Ellie Evans takes a look at a city that’s still very much open for business – and ready to show visitors a good time...
Melbourne has a reputation as Australia’s knowledge capital and, with the country’s highest concentration of conference facilities, knows how to use it.
The convention bureau is weathering the Covid storm, delivering five events in 2020, with many pencilled to take place this year – and more than 100 by 2026. Before the business events sector shuttered in March, Melbourne hosted 140 events, attracting more than 98,600 visitors: 47 per cent more than the previous year.
"Melbourne is an ideal destination for medical meetings: a state-of-the-art convention centre in the heart of the city,"
The 12th Congress of the Asia Pacific Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand attracted a record 900 delegates in March 2020. “Melbourne is an ideal destination for medical meetings: a state‐of‐the‐art convention centre in the heart of the city, world‐class universities and medical research precincts ensure that delegates are attracted not only to Melbourne from a tourism perspective but as a destination to gain invaluable professional knowledge and connections from the strength of Melbourne’s institutions,” says Emma Bowyer, managing director of organiser ICMS Australasia.
At the time of writing, international borders were restricted but national conferences are standing them in good stead, with an eye on future conventions including the International Mass Spectrometry Conference 2024 and International Symposium on Lepton and Photon Interactions 2023.
Melbourne continues to be a major drawcard for many international associations, particularly in the fields of medicine and science, thanks to 13 major independent research institutes, nine universities with expertise across health and life sciences, and ten major teaching hospitals; other stand‐out sectors include sustainability and clean energy, education, information and communications technology, finance, infrastructure and transport.
Support is available for international conventions including travel grants, discounted airfares, accommodation and free public transport. But don’t think it’s all work and no play in a city with so much to offer, from its welcoming outdoor spaces to the fantastic food scene.
The Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre (MCEC) itself is a big draw, with views of the bustling South Wharf precinct; it’s home to the annual Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME). Spaces range from the Plenary, which can accommodate 5,500, to the unique Melbourne Room with its soaring ceilings and views of the Yarra River; it can host 1,450 for a banquet.
The MCEC team has worked hard to introduce virtual and hybrid solutions; for the less tech‐savvy, there’s help available to design your custom‐branded microsite or embed the stream to your own website.
And from autumn 2021, a new cultural offering is going to expand options for planners beyond the usual meet and greet with the arrival of immersive art experience THE LUME Melbourne. The inaugural experience features the works of Vincent Van Gogh: expect epic‐scale masterpieces woven together with soundscapes, aromas and themed food and drink.
Along the Yarra River is Arts Centre Melbourne which, with ten elegant function rooms and four theatres, offers spaces to suit all occasions. Check out the State Theatre Lounge with its vibrant back‐lit artwork made from 464,000 marbles for a board meeting for 20 with a difference. Also on the South Wharf is the warehouse‐style Showtime Events Centre, bringing industrial flair to a cocktail party for 600, or why not check out the beautifully refurbished State Library Victoria for a refined reception or banquet?
The pandemic hasn’t made the city afraid to debut new venues either, like the long‐awaited CENTREPIECE, a state‐of‐the‐art conference and events centre in Melbourne & Olympic Parks which opens later this year. The Grand Hall can host a gala dinner for up to 1,400 guests, or the 15 breakout rooms include a 250‐seat auditorium.
The city is undergoing a flurry of hotel development, with notable new openings including the futuristic Adina Apartment Hotel Melbourne Southbank: the 220‐room property’s green cross‐laminated timber tower is believed to be the world’s tallest engineered timber extension.
The slick 206‐room Vibe Hotel Melbourne opened last year, with three meeting rooms accommodating up to 110 delegates theatre‐style, as did the 99‐room Adina Apartment Hotel West Melbourne in the city’s up‐and‐coming trendy West End precinct.
The plush 113‐room Lancemore Crossley St opened in December, with a glamourous theatrical interior to suit its surroundings, and classy W Melbourne opened its doors in February to unveil its “ultra‐modern event space” along with 294 rooms. And the high‐end Quincy Melbourne – just a stone’s throw from the convention centre – is due to open in March; though it lacks its own event space, it’s being touted as the ideal spot for entertaining with three eateries and a rooftop pool.
New in 2022 will be the long‐awaited Adina Apartment Hotel Melbourne, Pentridge on the former prison site in Coburg. Early reports mentioned a function centre in the prison’s former chapel with stunning high lead‐light windows.
For a memorable off‐site or incentive, try Australia’s first surf park, URBNSURF Melbourne, or spend the night on a portaledge perched high on the cliffs of Mount Buffalo gorge. Or try a round of golf at the Black Bull 18‐hole Championship Golf Course by the recently opened $48 million Sebel Yarrawonga, a 4.5‐star boutique hotel on the Murray River near the shores of Lake Mulwala that also boasts six flexible meeting spaces accommodating up to 500.
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