Tourism Australia kicks off the Business Events Australia Greater China Showcase in Melbourne

Tourism Australia’s Business Events Australia Greater China Showcase started today in Melbourne, the first time ever the event has been held outside China.

“Hosting the event in Australia for the first time provides an outstanding opportunity to bring to life Australia’s event delivery capabilities,” said Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan.

“It means decision makers from this key market are experiencing for themselves Australia’s incentive offering, giving them invaluable insight into why Australia is such an inspiring destination for their events.”

The official opening ceremony took place this morning at Showtime Events in Southbank Melbourne, kicking off a program that is designed to provide Chinese incentive planners, corporate decision-makers and media with first-hand experiences of some of Australia’s best incentive products and destinations.

Sixty qualified buyers from China will take part in scheduled business sessions, meeting with 50 Australian industry during one on one appointments. The Business Events Australia Greater China Showcase will also include a full day of experiences in and around Melbourne tomorrow, which will include activities at Melbourne and Olympic Parks and Flemington Racecourse.

“When we developed the Melbourne component of the BEA Greater China Showcase we wanted to showcase experiences that money can’t buy while demonstrating how we can develop incentive programs that enable delegates to develop as an individual both personally and professionally.

“Thanks to our partners and Team Melbourne approach we were able to showcase some of the best of Melbourne’s and regional Victoria’s products to help inspire planners when choosing to host in Victoria,” said   Karen Bolinger, Chief Executive Officer, Melbourne Convention Bureau.

Networking events during the Business Events Australia Greater China Showcase will provide the industry with further opportunities to develop relationships with these key Chinese decision-makers and media.

“The Business Events Greater China Showcase will show Chinese incentive planners, corporate decision-makers and media all that Australia has to offer for incentives that encourage and reward high performance,” said Mr O’Sullivan.

Following the two-day host city program in Melbourne, Chinese buyers and media will travel to another Australian destination to discover more of Australia’s incentive offering.