Features

Meet in Melbourne

30 Oct 2012 by BusinessTraveller

With its attractive setting and rich sport and cultural life, the Australian city is an enticing option for events, says Chris Pritchard.

How times change. A postcard I bought 20 years ago sports solid blackness where the picture should be. It’s captioned “Melbourne by night”. This notion of Australia’s second-biggest city as a place of after-dark gloom wasn’t fair then – though you had to know where to go – and it’s certainly inaccurate now.

Vibrant nightlife has helped Victoria’s state capital to become one of the best places to spend time in. In August, Melbourne was voted the world’s most liveable city by the Economist Intelligence Unit for the second year in a row, and it has made the top five for the past decade.

It’s also a great destination for staging events. The past year has seen Melbourne named Australia’s top conference destination by the International Congress and Convention Association – ahead of Sydney – while the Melbourne Convention and Visitors Bureau (mcvb.com.au) has secured 210 business events for the state of  Victoria, worth an estimated A$361 million (£229 million). In 2014, the city will host the International AIDS Conference.

Karen Bolinger, chief executive of the MCVB, says: “I haven’t come across such energy anywhere else in the world – there’s always something new to discover.”

True, Melbourne lacks Sydney’s dramatic harbourside beauty – but it basks in its reputation as the nation’s liveliest metropolis, and its cultural and culinary capital. Its calendar includes major sporting fixtures such as the Melbourne Cup, the Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Australian Open, as well as opera and drama galas, and art, comedy, food and wine festivals, providing memorable options for incentive trips.

Jenifer Dwyer Slee, business events sales director at Accor Australia, which has 29 hotels in the city, says: “Melbourne seems perfectly designed for conferences and events, with its proven experience with mega-events such as the Australian Open and Grand Prix.”

Its simple grid pattern also makes it almost impossible to get lost – good if you wish to explore on foot between meetings. Trams trundle down broad, tree-lined avenues, with the free 45-minute City Circle route passing numerous sights.

The city is often described as a cluster of villages. Just beyond the business district are Carlton’s Italianate Lygon Street, Fitzroy’s restaurant-studded Brunswick Street, the newish Docklands dining zone, Chapel Street’s boutique strip, Richmond’s Vietnamese quarter and beachside St Kilda. Australians also often say Melbourne has the country’s best shopping, with downtown’s Bourke Street Mall and the grand 19th-century Block Arcade among the options.

The transformation of the central business district’s once drab lanes – originally home to a thriving garment industry – also merits investigation, with Flinders Lane the best known. Warehouses were reinvented as high-rent apartments, restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques and a local phenomenon called “small bars”. Among the best is the Gin Palace, with an eclectic mix of old furniture and multitudinous gins, and Berlin, modelled on the German city pre-unification. Bennetts Lane draws jazz aficionados from around the world.

Away from the lanes, the most famous pub is Young and Jacksons. It’s famous for a painting called Chloé, a nude that once scandalised a less tolerant Melbourne (it was withdrawn from exhibition from the National Gallery of Victoria in 1883). From here, it’s a few blocks to “theatre land”, anchored by the gloriously restored Princess. For a more modernist take on the cultural scene, Arts Centre Melbourne plays host to everything from orchestral concerts to opera, drama and ballet. The centre marks the start of a Southbank stroll at the Yarra’s edge, a formerly foul waterway that is now a source of civic pride.

Along the Southbank are some of the city’s top meeting and event venues. The Crown Entertainment Complex has several award-winning eateries, three hotels, shopping arcades, a food court, spas, bars and a casino. Just beyond it, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (mcec.com.au) has one of the southern hemisphere’s largest pillar-free floor space, accommodating 5,440 delegates theatre-style.

Peter King, chief executive of the MCEC, highlights the city’s “great restaurants, museums and galleries” as a plus-point, along with the MCEC’s location a short stroll from the business district.

The city’s backyard also brims with post-conference diversions – including the Great Ocean Road, one of the world’s iconic drives. It’s commonly included on incentive trips – as is a visit to the Eureka Skydeck 88, where you can step into a glass cube protruding from the 88th floor of the skyscraper to enjoy superb city, bay and countryside views.

Other popular options include a visit to some of Australia’s top wine districts (of which five, including the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula, are within a 90-minute drive), gold rush towns such as Ballarat and Bendigo, Phillip Island’s koalas and penguin colony, and Melbourne Aquarium. Art options include the National Gallery of Victoria and the Ian Potter Centre on Federation Square, known for Australian art.

Melbourne is undeniably a long-haul destination – the shortest flights from London take 22 hours 20 minutes – but getting here is relatively easy. Direct flights are currently jointly operated by British Airways and Qantas. This arrangement is set to cease from next April when Qantas goes its own way with flights now routed via Dubai rather than Singapore, following its new tie-up with Emirates.

If delegates wish to see more of the country before or after conferences, Tullamarine airport, 22km northwest of the city, has an impressive domestic network.

Event venues

ROWN ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX

Modern and glitzy, Crown is situated at the Yarra’s edge and includes three high-end hotels – Crown Towers, Crown Metropol and Crown Promenade – totalling 1,600 rooms. It has 49 meeting rooms, the largest of which holds 2,500 people theatre-style. The complex is also heavily used for product launches, and attracts local shoppers and diners.

GRAND HYATT

A heart-of-the-city contemporary option, this 547-roomer is much favoured for events, with the largest of its 16 meeting rooms accommodating 1,120 delegates theatre-style and 730 for banquets. The Grand Hyatt’s RU-CO bar has one of the city’s best selections of single malts and cognacs, as well as a wide range of Victoria’s wines.

HILTON MELBOURNE SOUTH WHARF

This 19-storey, 396-room property is linked by a walkway to the MCEC. Delegates to MCEC events often check into the Hilton’s spacious and modern rooms, which offer skyline, river or bay views, but the hotel also pulls in considerable events business of its own. It has 32 meeting rooms, with a maximum capacity of 480 delegates theatre-style or 500 for cocktails.

MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND

One of the world’s most hallowed bat-and-ball venues and the scene of many memorable moments, the MCG also has 29 modern meeting rooms, holding a maximum of 760 guests theatre-style or 500 for a banquet. It’s particularly sought after for sports-related events and product launches, and is in walking distance of the business district.

NOVOTEL MELBOURNE ST KILDA

This modern 211-room hotel, the best-known property in Melbourne’s most popular beach suburb of St Kilda (6km from downtown), is across the road from the beach. It has 12 meeting rooms, some with open-air terraces and ocean views, with a maximum capacity of 300 theatre-style or 350 for cocktails. Beach barbecues and surfing lessons given by local surf club members can be arranged.

RACV CITY CLUB

In downtown’s business belt, the home of the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria has 11 meeting rooms – the biggest of which holds 500 people theatre-style or 400 for dinner. A frequent choice for events and meetings related to the automotive industry, it's also known for its good selection of local wines.

WINDSOR HOTEL

One of the city’s most stylish venues, the five-star, 180-room Windsor is a landmark opposite the State Parliament, built in 1883 (historic in Melbourne terms). Its four meeting rooms are elegant and ornate, in Victorian-era style, with the largest holding 400 people for cocktails or 230 diners for banquets.

Other worthwhile five-star options include the 107-room Como (mirvachotels.com), located amid South Yarra’s Chapel Street boutiques, and the 363-room, city-centre Sofitel on Collins (sofitel.com). They accommodate 150 and 1,000 delegates theatre-style respectively. The World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building (museumvictoria.com.au) in Carlton Gardens, completed in 1880, is still in demand for trade shows, with 11,000 sqm of space on two levels.

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