A strong economy, competitive hotel rates and those stunning views make Australia’s biggest city a compelling place to do business, says Chris Pritchard
Pointing a bejewelled finger at the harbour, my British companion exclaims: “It’s absolute magic. I’ve been coming to Sydney on business for 20 years but I never tire of this view.”
We’re on a rooftop balcony at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and it’s almost dusk. Just below us, the famed harbour – flat as sheet metal – bustles with commuter ferries and hedonists’ sail-powered pleasure craft. Across the water, seeming close enough to touch, is Sydney Opera House, while to our left is another landmark, the Harbour Bridge. Immediately to our right are the steel and glass towers of downtown’s skyline.
Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, with 4.4 million of the country’s 22 million people, includes a vast westward suburban sprawl. But the business district, where many hotels are handily located, is surprisingly compact. I take a leisurely southbound walk from the Rocks – the oldest part of Sydney, home to abundant restaurants, bars and coffee shops – through downtown, past the Town Hall and a cinema strip, to Chinatown’s cluster of eateries. The stroll takes me 32 minutes.
I wander up Martin Place to Macquarie Street, which has a similar medical reputation to London’s Harley Street (people boast that they’re off to see “a Macquarie Street specialist”). However, this leafy thoroughfare also houses State Parliament – Sydney is the capital of New South Wales. Here, “decentralisation” seems to be a buzzword.
Some government departments, followed by segments of private enterprise, have moved to satellite “mini-downtown” high-rise zones that are most easily visible from the air – Parramatta, Penrith, Chatswood, Bondi Junction and, just across the Harbour Bridge, North Sydney. The computer industry is fond of lower-rise business parks in suburban North Ryde, while some bureaucrats have been relocated beyond the tourist-attracting Blue Mountains in Sydney’s west to the former coal-mining town of Lithgow.
Among up-and-coming satellite areas, Sydney Olympic Park has been an unexpected success. It anchored the action in 2000, when Sydney hosted the Games. Gloomy pundits forecast the complex would become a cash-bleeding white elephant soon after the last athlete headed home. Instead, stadiums are much in demand for sport events and concerts. Participants’ accommodation was dismantled and sold to mining companies and rural motels, and hotels at the Olympic Park report high occupancies.
Many companies have moved into existing office space or built their own. Walking and cycling tracks are popular, as is an avian-rich expanse of wetlands with boardwalks. Tours of the complex still attract many visitors, some arriving by fast ferries up the Parramatta River from downtown.
Service industries are a growing part of Sydney’s commercial landscape – particularly those involved in tourism. Education has become one of the most important revenue earners, with fee-paying foreigners studying English or enrolling at one of the city’s universities and colleges. Students add to Sydney’s ethnic diversity – communities hail from almost every country on earth. However, geography dictates that the most commonly seen faces are from Asia.
Key commercial activities encompass banking and finance, insurance and the manufacturing of consumer goods, including food processing. Also represented are engineering plants, railway workshops, chemical firms, plastics and petroleum companies, and software creators. Some Sydney-based firms have as their raison d’être the export of products from New South Wales’ important agricultural sector, particularly wool, wheat and meat. Others deal in coal, much of which is shipped from the port of Newcastle, a two-hour drive north of the city.
“Sydney is the major business hub of Australia and the Asia-Pacific region,” an official from government agency Tourism New South Wales tells me. “It rates as one of the world’s most desirable cities to live or do business in. People who come here on business are inclined to make return visits, perhaps for holidays.”
Unlike gateways to many big cities, the international airport isn’t remote – it’s a mere 13km from downtown, and flag carrier Qantas, Virgin Atlantic, BA and Cathay Pacific (via Hong Kong) all serve the Sydney-London route (see this month's In Focus).
The airport’s location is a plus for frequent traveller Wayne Swaysland, sales director of Travelforce, a company specialising in business travel for corporate clients. “Downtown is 20 minutes’ drive from the airport,” he notes, “and has a great selection of hotels to suit all budgets. Many options are available for dining and entertainment, and if all your business is downtown, you don’t need to have a car.”
Unlike most of Sydney, the business district is in a grid pattern. Walking between meetings makes sense, particularly during the summer. “Everything is easily accessible,” Swaysland says. “And it’s also one of the world’s cleanest and safest cities.”
Australia’s relatively easy ride through the global financial crisis has added to its appeal. The accepted wisdom in Sydney is that the worst is over. The currency is riding high, unemployment and inflation remain low, and construction is bouncing back, along with other business investment. After a lull, foreign business visitors are again beating a path here – and enthusiasm for the city hasn’t waned.
According to Ton van Amerongen, chief executive of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Sydney is like no other city. “It’s Australia’s economic hub, blending an internationally competitive business environment with a unique lifestyle,” he says. “It shimmers with optimism, ideas and opportunity.”
Still, for all the upbeat comments, there’s an awareness that Melbourne, Australia’s number-two city, is on a roll (see “Wizard of Oz”, Business Traveller, Dec 2009/Jan 2010). Melbourne has successfully encouraged some businesses to relocate from Sydney, with lower costs being a selling point.
“Sydney will be challenged significantly by Melbourne’s expansion of its exhibition and conference facilities, and its new hotels,” says Garth Simmons, regional general manager for Accor, one of the country’s largest hotel operators – its Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, All Seasons and Formule 1 brands are all represented in Sydney. “But the city remains the home of business in Australia, even if Melbourne’s strength in mining headquarters has affected business travel slightly,” he says.
Simmons advises travellers not to leave hotel bookings to the last moment, as Sydney has experienced a major resurgence in occupancy. “Business travellers need to think ahead if they want to get the accommodation that best suits them,” he says. “With the economy growing strongly and with virtually no new hotel supply in the city centre for a decade, any significant conference or event sees the city fill very quickly.”
According to Simmons, while refurbishments have been common, new hotels (except for one – the 91-room Ibis Sydney King Street Wharf, which opened in late 2008) haven’t been built downtown because room rates are too low. While hotels have embraced “dynamic pricing” – where rates change according to supply and demand – they’re still low here compared with major cities in many other countries. Even if rates climb, he believes new hotels wouldn’t be ready until mid-decade.
In terms of cultural differences, Sydney’s business people caution that the biggest gaffe foreign visitors make is to mistake informality and friendliness for a lack of professionalism. Sydney associates may well use your first name when they barely know you, and hang their jackets over the backs of boardroom chairs before starting meetings, but they mean business, are highly professional, drive hard bargains and reach decisions quickly.
Still, if a meeting does have to be cancelled, there are no shortage of ways to pass a morning or afternoon. A 20-minute cab ride from downtown will take you to Bondi Beach, Sydney’s best known strip of sea and sand. Otherwise, take the 35-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay to Manly, the city’s second-ranking beach, and get a harbour cruise while you’re at it.
Or if you’re after a more culturally uplifting excursion, pay a visit to the Australian Museum (australianmuseum.net.au) or the Art Gallery of New South Wales (artgallery.nsw.gov.au). Both are opposite grassy expanses between Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens that are popular with office workers at lunchtime.
In the evening, local residents suggest exploring “restaurant rows” such as Newtown’s King Street, where Thai Pothong at number 294 (thaipothong.com.au; tel +61 295 506 277) is outstanding. In Chinatown, the Golden Harbour (31/33 Dixon Street; goldenharbour.com.au; tel +61 292 125 987) excels, while other convenient districts awash with eateries include the Rocks, Oxford Street and Kings Cross.
For entertaining, the Hilton’s Glass brasserie and the Sofitel’s Garden Court are flawless options. Rockpool Bar and Grill (66 Hunter Street; rockpool.com.au; tel +61 280 781 900) is also a good bet – the newest outlet from celebrity chef Neil Perry, it’s rated highly for Australian seafood, beef and lamb. But if you really want to impress, take your clients to Tetsuya’s.
A sound and oft-heard recommendation is to add an extra day or two to a business trip to Sydney. The locals work hard but play hard too, and it’s advisable to follow their lead.
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