If you’re after a sunny, activity-packed meeting destination, choose the iconic Australian city, says Chris Pritchard

Boats bob gently on Darling Harbour as I gaze through the window of a cocktail space at Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre (scec.com.au). Behind here – just beyond a hip waterfront restaurant strip called Cockle Bay – is the city’s steel-and-glass downtown skyline, a reminder (as a delegate next to me whispers to her companions) that we’re here to work.

Sydney residents consider this vista decidedly ho-hum, but a colleague states the obvious: “What a great spot for a conference.” Admittedly, I can’t see the city’s twin symbols from here – the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House – but a few blocks’ walk leads to a gorgeous view of both.

Darling Harbour is a tourist attraction in itself, with restaurants and shops that entice delegates (darlingharbour.com). A major expansion project was recently announced, and a new name will be progressively introduced – Sydney International Convention, Exhibition and Entertainment Precinct. When completed in 2016, it will accommodate 10,000 conference delegates, or 12,000 people for sport, music and theatrical events. Ton van Amerongen, chief executive of the convention centre, says: “We now have an opportunity to give Sydney new world-class facilities and a more vibrant events precinct.”

For now, the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre comprises three interconnected buildings – Bayside and Parkside convention centres, which have 3,500- and 989-seat auditoriums respectively, and Sydney Exhibition Centre. All told, the facility has 30 meeting rooms accommodating between 50 and 3,500 people.

Most conferences attract fewer than 3,000 people, but the city can also host larger gatherings – some 15,000 Amway salespeople from China visited in January 2011 on Sydney’s biggest-ever incentive trip. In such instances, nearby facilities can be used – the Sydney Entertainment Centre, for example, is only a ten-minute stroll away and has 9,900 seats, plus standing room for 3,000 people.

Why Sydney? According to the International Congress and Convention Association, the city (which has a population of 4.5 million) is ranked tenth globally for business and professional events (up from 17th in 2009). It is Asia-Pacific’s second-ranked business event location, and hosts more than 40 per cent of congresses and conventions held in Australia.

“Sydney has long been a hotspot for travellers from Britain,” notes Lyn Lewis-Smith, acting chief executive of Business Events Sydney, a government-funded agency that helps to organise conferences, which counts hotels and other tourism-related businesses among its members. She attributes the city’s attractiveness as an event destination to its commercial clout combined with natural beauty.

What’s more, Lewis-Smith adds, there’s no bad time to collar meeting space. “Even our winter is balmy by European standards,” she says. Spring and summer are particularly popular as visitors like to make the most of the outdoors.

Getting to Sydney, which processes 43 per cent of Australia’s foreign arrivals, is easy. National carrier Qantas flies from the UK, codesharing with British Airways. European airlines codeshare with Asian and Middle Eastern carriers rather than flying beyond their partners’ hubs. However, most Asian and Middle Eastern airlines flying to London also serve Australia, with aircraft changes at hub airports such as Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong. The airport is only 9km from downtown.

“Sydney is one of the best destinations in the world for conventions and business meetings,” says Jenifer Dwyer Slee, director of sales for business events at Accor, Australia’s biggest hotel group, which counts Novotel, Sofitel and Pullman among its brands. “It boasts a stunning location, temperate climate, world-leading facilities, a robust economy and friendly locals.” Within a ten-minute cab ride of the convention centre, there are almost 12,000 four- and five-star hotel rooms across 44 properties.

Unusual venues are increasingly popular. As Rob Austin, acting chief executive officer of Trainworks, one alternative option, says: “There is a definite trend to make conventions memorable rather than mere meetings in plain vanilla rooms.”

Economic realities can’t be ignored, concedes Lewis-Smith. “The global financial crisis undoubtedly had an impact on how people meet and do business,” she says. “For many companies, this meant a review of long-haul travel. The strength of the Australian dollar [AU$1.5 to £1] is an added challenge affecting the affordability of staging events here.” Fortunately, Sydney is masterful at staging “money-can’t-buy experiences which don’t have to be expensive”, she says.

“Business events are worth more than AU$17.3 billion [£11.1 billion] to Australia annually, and Sydney generates the lion’s share of this,” Lewis-Smith adds. “From July 1, 2011, until the end of 2018, an estimated 155,187 delegates will spend approximately 650,651 nights in the city.” Better book up fast.

Venues in the city…

Four Seasons

This 531-room five-star hotel at the harbour’s edge offers splendid views of Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Now 20 years old, it remains one of Sydney’s most esteemed properties. Its 14 meeting venues range from the Grand ballroom, holding up to 1,000 people theatre-style, to a 30-capacity boardroom.

Shangri-La

Arguably offering Sydney’s best Harbour Bridge/Opera House vistas from floor-to-ceiling guestroom windows, this 563-room five-star hotel was refurbished in 2011. The best views of all are from the 36th-floor bar, popular for delegate huddles. The 15 meeting venues include a 900-capacity ballroom.

Doltone House

A recently renovated former warehouse on a historic wharf poking into Sydney Harbour, the multi-venue Doltone House on Jones Bay Wharf comes with the latest audio-visual gadgetry and holds up to 580 delegates. Catering is available.

Dockside

This dedicated function venue caters for up to 1,200 people and is located in Cockle Bay, close to the heart of the business district. Modern in style, its windows look out over Darling Harbour’s boats. Though popular for formal meetings, it is also well regarded for meals and cocktail parties.

Sofitel Sydney Wentworth

This 436-room property is located in the financial district. Featuring advanced audio-visual facilities, it has a large third-floor area suitable for breakout sessions or pre-function cocktails. The hotel’s pillarless ballroom is one of Sydney’s biggest, holding 1,200 delegates.

Westin

This 416-room hotel is as central as it’s possible to be in Sydney. It is divided into two wings – one contemporary and the other an imposing sandstone structure that was formerly the General Post Office. The hotel has 20 meeting rooms and can cater for conferences of up to 1,400 delegates theatre-style or 1,000 banquet-style. The property is well equipped with the latest technology.

And further afield…

Jonah’s

A member of Relais and Châteaux, the 11-room Jonah’s is one of the top boutique hotels in the Sydney area and offers a stylish location for small meetings of up to 25 people. It is a 50-minute drive north of the city or a 12-minute scenic seaplane flight from the harbour’s Rose Bay. Famed for fine dining, the contemporary venue is perched on a clifftop overlooking the sea. It’s an esteemed, if expensive, option.

Tower Lodge

Set among vineyards in the heart of the Hunter Valley wine region, 170km northwest of Sydney (a two-hour road trip), Tower Lodge has only ten rooms and two suites but can accommodate more than 100 delegates for gatherings. Tranquillity pervades the property, which attracts cerebral rather than boisterous meetings. Pillars add a Greco-Roman ambience to the contemporary structure.

Trainworks

One of Sydney’s more unusual conference settings, Trainworks is a newly refurbished theme park devoted to trains, which can accommodate up to 2,500 delegates. By arrangement, they can be transported the 90km from downtown Sydney aboard historic carriages pulled by an old locomotive. Among its trains is the first to cross Sydney Harbour Bridge, in 1932.

Incentive activities

Groups usually head for the scenic Blue Mountains, on Sydney’s western outskirts, for a taste of the outback. Other coach trips take in famed beaches such as Bondi and Manly.

After meetings, delegates should stroll through downtown to the Rocks, a historic sandstone precinct built on the water’s edge in the convict era, now filled with shops, restaurants and pubs.

Tours of the Opera House are available in addition to shows, but Sydney’s hottest ticket is Bridge Climb (bridgeclimb.com), with its diverse menu of guided harnessed ascents. Harbour cruises with catering are also popular, as are ferry trips to Taronga Zoo (taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo), where professional photographers often shun the animals, preferring the unrivalled views of Sydney’s skyline.