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To be able to generate a healthy $327 million in economic benefits in just one year for the Gold Coast is no easy task.
The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) certainly pulls its weight when it comes to attracting visitors to the city, both for business and leisure tourism.
In fact, some 3 million guests have walked through the doors of GCCEC since opening in 2004.
On Friday night, the centre won the highly competitive Business Event Venues category at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.
The Convention Centre can host up to 6,000 guests, making it an attractive choice for large conferences. Combine that with the power of the Gold Coast to attract big delegate numbers and you have a venue that satisfies corporates, associations and an ever-growing number of universities and schools for large events.
The GCCEC is currently witnessing an increasing demand for event space, and some clients are looking to book up to 10 years in advance.
To provide the capacity to meet buoyant demand GCCEC is hopeful a proposed extension to its existing 10,000sqm of usable space will go ahead.
It's space they'll certainly need; dedicated to showcasing the Gold Coast as a world-class destination for business events, the team at the Centre is working closely with Destination Gold Coast Business Events, Tourism Events Queensland and Tourism Australia to bring valuable and varied domestic and international events to the award-winning Centre.
For example, a week in the Centre might see a global live television production in the arena, a trade conference and expo in the halls, and training in the meeting rooms.
Last week, all four halls welcomed more than 2,500 bridge players, congregating for the 59th Gold Coast Congress; the largest bridge meet in the Asia Pacific.
While size might be one thing the GCCEC is famous for, the centre also prides itself on customer service.
Spearheaded by seasoned tourism and hospitality experts, the service and offering of the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre has been streamlined and perfected, attracting more than 40 per cent repeat customers.
One such customer, Australian Property Institute head of events Mia Yip, says it is clear why the GCCEC is an award-winning venue.
"The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre provided seamless service and event management for our National Property Conferences," says Yip.
"The entire GCCEC team radiated a sense of very strong team culture, positivity and relaxed personalities that helped our busy events team carry out the few days with minimal stress or issues."
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is another repeat customer, holding its annual conferences at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre since 2005. The event now attracts more than 6,000 industry professionals each year over four days.
"The relationship we have with the team at GCCEC has grown from strength to strength with the conference," says the guild's events manager Emma Fernance.
"GCCEC understand what it takes to deliver a smooth and successful conference - the familiarity is invaluable for all stakeholders," says Fernance.
"Attendees love coming to the sunny Gold Coast and are welcomed warmly to Broadbeach by the community year after year."
This article was written in partnership with the GCCEC.
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