Working together to maximise business event opportunities in Tropical North Queensland.
Join the team from Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef (BECGBR) for a full day of future-focused ideas, panel discussions and interactive activities, delivered by industry professionals. The day will explore how we will continue to position our region as a world class business events destination and deliver on our brand promise, “Connect Great. Leave Greater”.
Meeting and event planners will share their insights on what they are looking for from destinations, including the do’s and don’ts of conducting a site inspection, submitting a proposal and meeting delegate expectations.
Learn how to incorporate the destination brand into your marketing and event delivery and discover how important sustainability and accessibility have become to delegates and planners.
After the sessions conclude, take the opportunity to meet and network with the Tropical North Queensland business events industry, suppliers, speakers, and the team from Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef at the afternoon networking event.
Leave feeling connected and inspired to take your business events efforts to the next level.
Session 1: Business Events
Hear insights from industry professionals including Business Events Australia, BECGBR and the Cairns Convention Centre.
Session 2: Buyer Panel Session
Ask those burning questions of the panel and gain insider tips on what buyers look for in a destination outside air access, how to submit a great proposal, and site inspections – the good and the bad and the pain points buyers experience bringing clients to a destination.
Session 3: What is our Business Events destination brand? Sustainability and Accessibility workshop
How do we, as business events professionals, adopt the destination brand? Why is it important to have a consistent message? How do we incorporate sustainability and accessibility to give our region an edge? The session will look at the new destination partnership with Reforest, the Sustainability Toolkit and the Accessibility Hub. In this session, we will workshop “leave greater” moments participants have had in their business and how we can leverage these in the future.
Networking: Happy Hour
Compare notes with your industry colleagues during the networking session at the end of the conference.
What are Business Events?
A business event is a gathering of delegates attending a convention, congress, trade show and/or trade exhibition, incentive event or corporate/business meeting which is hosted by an organisation and held in a specific contracted venue. Business Events delegates spend twice as much as a leisure traveller and are a valuable driver of visitation into our shoulder and low seasons.
Who should attend?
Existing and/or new staff working in the business events space or who work directly with clients, professional conference organisers and meeting planners. We also invite businesses that are interested in knowing more about business events opportunities.
Speaker announcements!
Robin Mack
Executive General Manager, Commercial and Business Events Australia, Tourism Australia
Tourism Australia’s dedicated business events unit, Business Events Australia (BEA), delivers marketing communications, industry partnerships and a trade distribution program to raise international awareness and consideration of Australia as a business events destination.
Paula Rowntree
Head of Events at Australian Psychological Society (APS)
Paula is a passionate advocate for the power of business events to create long term economic and sustainable impact. As a leader within the business event and not-for-profit sectors, with more than 30 years’ experience, Paula works with organisations to successfully design, develop and implement business event strategies that enhance the member experience, adapt to changing environments and best practice, diversify revenue streams and increase the value of the organisation.
Janet Hamilton
General Manager, Cairns Convention Centre
Janet Hamilton is a senior executive with extensive experience in venue management, strategic planning, stakeholder management, sales and marketing, major events, communications, sponsorship and place management. The Cairns Convention Centre is a world-class venue that is ideal for business events with 300 – 2,500 delegates.
Rosie Douglas
General Manager – Partnership & Events, Tourism Tropical North Queensland
Tourism Tropical North Queensland is home to the region’s official convention bureau; Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef (BECGBR). BECGBR role is to market the destination to conferences and incentive programs to a global audience and provide impartial advice or information to assist meeting and event planners to make informed decisions.
Sonja Soderbom
Director Oceania, Ovation Global DMC
Sonja has successfully lead and managed multiple DMC organisations including the start up of Ovation Australia. Ovation Australia is the leading DMC who intimately understands the unique power of meetings, incentives, conferences and events.
Nicole Walker
Managing Director, Arinex Pty Ltd
Nicole provides leadership, management and vision to achieve the strategic objectives of both the company and its clients. In her nine years with Arinex, Nicole has gained an in-depth working knowledge of conference operations and has a strong focus on exceeding client outcomes. Arinex is the first event management company in Australia to be carbon neutral.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland
Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ), is the Regional Tourism Organisation, that brings together the industry and the community to drive the value of the visitor economy through destination marketing. Mark Olsen and the TTNQ Marketing team will discuss the destination brand, sustainability and accessibility.
Program
Cairns Convention Centre | 31 March 2023
9:00 | Arrival and registration
9:30 | Welcome & Session 1
Morning Tea
11:30 | Session 2
Lunch
1:30 | Session 3
3:30 | Networking
4:30 | Conclusion
[Please note the program is subject to change]
Cost
Members $75 per person*
Non-Members $150 per person*
*Includes morning tea, lunch and networking drinks
Registrations close 5pm, Friday 24th March.
Contact Kahlia Pepper, Marketing Coordinator – Partnerships & Events for more information or registration issues.
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