Tourism Australia’s specialist business events unit, Business Events Australia, has taken on a new director of business events for North America and welcomed back a familiar face to its team. Based out of Tourism Australia’s Los Angeles office, Eric Edmunds has been appointed director of business events for North America. He has worked extensively in the hotel and business events market, including as senior manager of sales and marketing for The DMC Group.
Business Events Victoria (BEV) is pleased to announce a strategic change to the organisation’s structure. Chris Porter will step into the role of General Manager Business Events with Adeline Keh taking on the position of Executive Officer. Adeline has over eight (8) years’ experience with BEV and is a familiar face to industry since 2014.
PCO ICMS Australasia has been embedded into the organising committee since Brisbane won the bid in 2016, helping to deliver this benchmark event, achieving record global participation, sponsorship and government buy-in. The high security event is highly complex – security, stakeholder management, 13 concurrent sessions, satellite meetings, a huge exhibition component, and accredited media.
In Adelaide, where the late chef Jock Zonfrillo forged his award-winning restaurant Orana using hundreds of edible Australian native foods, Adelaide Convention Centre is taking a similar approach, but doing it on a much larger scale, serving up to 3,000 diners at a time. Gavin Robertson – like Zonfrillo, also a Scot – is executive chef of the largest kitchen in the city at the convention centre. When offered some of the thousands of edible native ingredients by a First Nations enterprise, his first question was about their supply chain.
Fostering meaningful connections and opening doors to exciting new collaborations. Barry Neame, CEM, PCOA President, and Maxine Tod, Director Business Partnerships, were proud to represent PCOA at the highly successful Meetings 2023 held at Tākina – Wellington Convention & Exhibition Centre last week.
The Cairns Convention Centre is getting ready to open its $176 million expansion, cementing Tropical North Queensland as a premiere business destination. Janet Hamilton, General Manager at Cairns Convention Centre, says the expansion adds a rooftop banquet area, outdoor terrace, three flexible meeting rooms, an exhibition and plenary space in the 10,500sqm of new floor space now available. This gives Cairns Convention Centre the ability to host multiple or larger events, with conventions and exhibitions of up to 2,500 guests now able to be accommodated in the entire venue.
The winter 2023 issue of Spice magazine is now out! Gracing this season’s cover is the talented team from the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) – Narciso Terrenal, sous chef; Michael Hevey, first year apprentice; Akashdeep Kaur, chef de partie; Stefano Perugini, chef de partie; William Beasley, first year apprentice; and Hentry Augustin, sous chef. Blending fresh local ingredients with Melbourne’s multicultural flavours, and driven by a passion for food, this iconic venue’s modus operandi is ‘Victoria’s best, flavoured by Melbourne.’
Jana Kingston has been appointed National Business Development Manager, C&I for Millennium Hotels & Resorts based in Melbourne, Australia. Well-established in market, Kingston brings invaluable experience and knowledge from her 18 year tenure with Destination Queenstown. Dubbed the ‘Queenstown specialist’, Kingston is eager to expand her reach representing all 18 hotels in the Millennium Hotels & Resorts portfolio.
Cairns, 31st May, 2023 – Over 100 high school students from across Far North Queensland were given an insight into the workings of the tourism and hospitality industries at a recent Queensland Tourism Industry Roadshow at the Cairns Convention Centre.
Australasia’s oldest professional conference organiser ICMSA has had plenty of industry firsts in its 57 year history but has never managed three meetings all starting on the same day. Come June 26, ICMSA staff will be manning registration desks in Brisbane and Melbourne in preparation for an influx of close to 5,000 delegates attending three separate meetings.