Melbourne Expands Meetings And Delegate Programmes Into Regional Victoria

Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) marked AIME 2026 with a broader view of how delegates can experience Victoria alongside the city’s established convention infrastructure. Ahead of the tradeshow, MCB used its Uncover Melbourne programme to introduce hosted media to winery estates, wellness venues, First Nations cultural context, art-led activities and coastal settings across the Mornington Peninsula, reflecting a wider push to integrate regional Victoria more directly into incentive programmes, leadership gatherings and multi-day meeting formats. 

Jesús Guerrero Chacón

About one hour south-east of Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula has become a practical extension to city-based events, particularly for incentive programmes, leadership gatherings and smaller-format meetings spread across several days. Vineyard estates, residential venues, thermal springs and outdoor activities allow organisers to structure programmes around longer interaction and slower pacing away from exhibition halls and conference schedules.

The Journey Between Venues

Transport across the Peninsula came through Luxcoach Melbourne, a family-run business created by former Australian NBL player Darren Lucas and his daughter Tess Lucas to bring a more hospitality-led approach to regional road travel. The 20-seat vehicle functions less like a conventional coach and more like a private lounge, with butler service, lounge seating, a cocktail bar and onboard hospitality designed for corporate functions, wine tours and hosted programmes.

That format changed the rhythm of the day immediately. Conversations continued naturally between stops, giving our media guests a clearer sense of how smaller groups can move through regional programmes without breaking the social flow every time transport is involved.
 

Mornington Peninsula Brings Meetings Into Wine Country 

The first stop brought the group to Sunnyside Events in Mount Eliza, part of the Food & Desire portfolio. Spread across a historic estate with 156 hectares of gardens and vineyards overlooking Port Phillip Bay, the venue can host up to 500 guests for cocktail functions or around 260 for seated events, giving organisers several ways to structure receptions, hosted gatherings and executive programmes across indoor and outdoor settings. For our group, a Welcome to Country ceremony opened the morning before breakfast and a site inspection across the estate’s meeting spaces, gardens and outdoor areas overlooking Port Phillip Bay. The venue operates through several interconnected spaces instead of one central event room, allowing organisers to structure receptions, hosted gatherings and executive programmes across different settings throughout the property.

Beginning the programme with the First Nations context also reflected a wider shift taking place across Victoria’s visitor economy. State-backed programmes supporting First Nations-led cultural businesses and tourism experiences are steadily expanding the range of on-Country activities and cultural programming available to conference and incentive organisers across the state.

Red Hill introduced a more private side of the Peninsula’s meetings landscape, where programmes revolve around extended stays, slower schedules and smaller groups spread across residential properties instead of large conference venues.

Among them sits The Cambium, which describes itself as a “sanctuary for thinkers”. Set within bushland in Red Hill, the exclusive-use property was developed specifically for corporate retreats, strategy sessions and leadership gatherings, with boardrooms, communal dining areas, accommodation and outdoor spaces designed around discussion-heavy programmes where privacy and group cohesion matter more than scale.

A different format emerges a few minutes away at Lancemore Lindenderry Red Hill, where winery hospitality and residential conferencing operate within the same 40-room estate. Meeting rooms, accommodation, spa facilities and vineyard dining allow organisers to keep delegates together across several days while moving naturally between strategy sessions, meals, tastings and informal conversation without constantly relocating the group between venues.

The site inspection and wine tasting also reinforced how closely Mornington Peninsula ties its meetings offer to local production. Pinot noir and chardonnay dominate much of the region’s winemaking, shaped by Mornington’s microclimates, gradients and drainage conditions, all topics discussed during lunch inside the estate. For organisers, that local layer creates programmes connected directly to place and landscape instead of generic activities detached from the destination itself.

  

Art, Wellness, and Incentive Design

Vineyards and large-scale sculpture installations sit side by side at Pt. Leo Estate. The property combines vineyards, dining spaces and a major privately owned sculpture collection, giving organisers a setting where art, food and outdoor programming can sit within the same event. 

During the visit, our group was taken through selected works in the sculpture park before moving into a dedicated area for a sip-and-sketch session. The programme moved from guided interpretation inside the sculpture park into a dedicated sip-and-sketch session, allowing conversation to continue through the activity itself. 

Pt. Leo can host events of around 100 delegates and offers exclusive-use options across its sculpture gardens, terraces and dining spaces. For incentive and hosted programmes, organisers can sequence art tours, dining and outdoor activity across multiple parts of the estate. 

Wellness was introduced later in Fingal at Alba Thermal Springs & Spa, which opened in 2022 and expanded in late 2025. Our group first toured the facilities, then joined an open-air relaxation session led by a coach before using the thermal baths.

The programme moved through guided relaxation, thermal bathing and open-air wellness sessions, allowing planners to experience how slower scheduling can be integrated into executive retreats and incentive formats. The property now accommodates programmes from small executive retreats to larger corporate groups, with thermal pools, treatment rooms and dining areas supporting buyouts, reward programmes, leadership retreats and product launches.
 

A Wider Victorian Meetings Map

Regional Victoria is being incorporated more directly into how Melbourne-based events are designed, particularly for organisers looking to separate leadership discussions, incentives and smaller-group formats from the pace of the convention precinct. Wine regions such as the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula already host programmes built around local production, wellness and outdoor settings linked to larger city events.

Geelong will add a new layer to that structure when Nyaal Banyul Convention and Event Centre opens in July 2026 on Wadawurrung Country. Located around one hour from Melbourne, the venue combines exhibition halls, meeting rooms, a theatre and an integrated Crowne Plaza hotel within reach of the Bellarine Peninsula and the Great Ocean Road.

The project introduces a second convention hub into Victoria’s business events network, allowing organisers to distribute programmes across metropolitan and regional locations while connecting delegates with research, industry and tourism assets outside the capital.

MCB’s Uncover Melbourne programme linked Melbourne’s convention infrastructure with vineyards, wellness venues, coastal settings and regional meeting formats operating across Victoria.

For meeting planners building incentives, executive meetings or multi-day conference programmes, the state now offers far more than one arrival point and one convention precinct.
 

Discover more from HQ’s recent reporting in Melbourne and across Victoria in the Australia Destination Report 2026, including business events strategy, convention infrastructure and sector-led congress development.

 

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