Gold Coast to attract major business activity

THE Gold Coast is intensifying its bidding arsenal to attract major association and corporate event activity.

Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter revealed a reinvigorated Gold Coast Convention Bureau (GCCB) will oversee the new strategic direction.

Winter had a captive audience at the Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo in Melbourne, as he provided an overview and operational blueprint of what the GCCB will be seeking to achieve, once fully operational.

“It’s time for the Gold Coast to be collective in its approach to attracting major association and corporate event activity to the region. We need to be able to highlight to Australia and the rest of the world exactly what it is that the Gold Coast can offer to the many thousands of delegates that attend these major conferences,” says Winter.

“Bidding for and the securing of major business events on behalf of the destination will form the cornerstone of Gold Coast Convention Bureau activity.

“The bureau will invest more time and effort into the bidding process for the betterment of the entire business events industry on the Gold Coast. 

“This process will be enhanced by the establishment of the associated website www.goldcoastconventions.com that will be fully functional by May and is designed to ensure a one-stop shop catering to the vast needs and requirements of professional conference organisers and major event planners.”

One of the most recent major bidding successes already achieved by GCCB in partnership with Griffith University, was to secure an entourage of 1000-plus international delegates, who will gather in the city during the Asia Pacific Conference for International Education during April
next year.  

The four day activity coordinated by the Asia Pacific Association of International Education (APAIE) will positively impact on the local economy to the tune of an estimated $3 million.

Showing how important this industry will be to the local economy, the Gold Coast now boasts the capabilities to host delegations of up to 3500 and can also service other major meetings, conferences, exhibitions and incentive packages concurrently.   

For the 2007/2008 financial year, hosting business events was collectively worth more than $504 million to the Gold Coast economy. Growth is anticipated as the city’s capacity continues to improve and the GCCB moves its bidding powers into overdrive.    

The reintroduction of the GCCB is supported by a recent $40 million extension to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) which has virtually tripled the region’s capacity to handle large conferences, incentives, exhibitions and special events.

The refurbished GCCEC boasts a total of four halls, four registration offices, 18 meeting rooms, 12 kitchens and a total ground floor exhibition capacity of 10,000sqm.