Northern Territory: Exploring Australia in Every Sense!

Darwin Waterfront, Northern Territory, Australia.

Australia’s Northern Territory offers a pristine environment, uncrowded destinations and meaningful experiences, never more relevant than in today’s world. Across its 1,348,199 square kilometres, wide-open spaces invite unhurried exploration and the welcoming relaxed lifestyle enables business event attendees to reconnect with what really matters. The Northern Territory is genuinely "different in every sense for business events."

Northern Territory (NT) destinations like Darwin, Uluru and Alice Springs offer a range of sophisticated venues and accommodation infrastructure coupled with immersive cultural and nature-based experiences. Across a wide range of professional fields, the NT is a smart choice for business events from sectors such as healthcare, space, agribusiness, energy and international education where local experts in these fields and technical touring can be incorporated into conference programmes.

The Northern Territory is well positioned to take advantage of business events opportunities in a post-pandemic world: “Highly effective community management, COVID-safe plans and a relatively low incidence of COVID cases enabled Australia’s Northern Territory to recommence staging events well ahead of many other regions,” says Rebecca McCaig (pictured right), Northern Territory Business Events (NTBE) Director. By August 2020, the NT was confident enough to stage the 11-day Darwin Festival, which included outdoor concerts, theatre, cabaret, film and visual arts. This was followed in May 2021 by the record-breaking BASSINTHEGRASS Music Festival delivered by NTBE partner, the NT Major Events Company, which was attended by 14,000 people. “This proven ‘safe event’ capability encouraged approximately 60% of impacted business events to be retained in the NT, opting for postponement versus cancellation. Planner confidence in the NT's COVID-19 response, as well as the natural advantages offered by our pristine environment and wide-open spaces, has enabled the NT to maintain its impressive record as a safe and appealing destination. The Northern Territory Business Events Support Fund, which is administered by NT Business Events, also played an integral role in keeping business events secured for the future.”

The pandemic also presented an opportunity to keep planners engaged through virtual experiences, Ms McCaig tells us: “During the pandemic, our team delivered virtual activities for planners enabling them to experience the NT from their respective locations. A virtual Dot-Painting workshop was held in conjunction with Maruku Arts, an Uluru-based arts organisation owned and operated by the Anangu People. Another group of planners enjoyed a relaxing virtual yoga session with the sights and sounds of Uluru forming a calming and peaceful backdrop.” Collaborative approaches through strategic partnerships are also valued, which is why NTBE engages with a range of national and global partners to generate business events opportunities.

"A major effect of COVID-19 has been an overall global shift in organisational culture to become more people and wellbeing oriented. The NT’s wide-open spaces, nature-based activities and iconic landscapes consistently move, inspire and connect delegates to people and place, supporting this shift."

NTBE also partners with Tourism Australia to support a united destination presence at trade shows such as IMEX Frankfurt. “The opportunity to attend IMEX Frankfurt 2022 was more important than ever, allowing us to reconnect with the global market and our industry colleagues. The show demonstrated the value of in-person connections and how conducive these environments are to establishing new relationships and strengthening existing ones,” says Ms McCaig. NT Business Events also leverage Tourism Australia’s Bid Fund Program ensuring that the NT and Australia are positioned as competitively as possible. “The International Foster Carer Organisation Conference (September 2022) and the World Aquaculture Conference (May 2023), both to be staged at the Darwin Convention Centre, provide great examples of our partner activity with Tourism Australia to enable successful bid wins.”

NTBE holds a strong belief that a business event should be both professionally and personally enriching for delegates. “A major effect of COVID-19 has been an overall global shift in organisational culture to become more people and wellbeing oriented. The NT’s wide-open spaces, nature-based activities and iconic landscapes consistently move, inspire and connect delegates to people and place, supporting this shift.”

“We also aim to enhance the delegate experience in a meaningful way through access to an Aboriginal culture that is more than 65,000 years old. We know the opportunity to engage with the world’s oldest continuous-living culture has a profound impact on delegates and we’ll continue to encourage planners to make this engagement an essential element of their business events programmes in the NT,” explains Ms McCaig.

NTBE recognises the significant way in which business events can forge a strong community connection, provide meaningful engagement and leaving a lasting legacy. Visits to community health organisations and engagement with Aboriginal art collectives or cultural organisations are encouraged to enable valuable interactions between delegates and the community. A good example of this is The Youth Mill, “a Darwin-based programme and facilitation service that provides young people with a diverse range of pro-social, therapeutic, up-skilling activities from creative arts and recreation to the development of practical skills and employment pathways.” Members of The Youth Mill deliver ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremonies and cultural performances with delegates gaining deep insights into the NT’s ancient Aboriginal culture. “Other organisations actively involved in business events include The Purple House in Alice Springs, a 100% Aboriginal owned social enterprise, the aforementioned Maruku Arts (featured above) at Uluru and Aboriginal Bush Traders in Darwin,” added Ms McCaig.

When it comes to upcoming events, the future is bright for this Australian region – according to NTBE, the Northern Territory is well positioned to leverage a renewed focus on wellbeing and the desire for a genuine connection-to-place that are amongst the key objectives of today’s business events. “The NT offers scope for profound personal and professional outcomes that planners and delegates are now seeking. We will continue to competitively position our iconic landscapes, nature-based experiences and strong connection to culture alongside our sophisticated business events infrastructure and the depth of NT’s diverse industry strengths,” concludes the bureau’s director.