AUSTRALIA – City convention bureau, Business Events Sydney (BESydney), announced the details of an AU$7bn (US$7.08bn) infrastructure development programme on the first day of the Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo (AIME) in Melbourne, 15-16 February 2011.
The major infrastructure development will be designed to attract the international conference, convention and incentive market. The major upgrades and creation of new infrastructure will centre on harbourside locations including the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Star City Casino and waterfront greening project, Barangaroo.
Barangaroo will transform 22 hectares of former wharves and industrial space on Sydney Harbour into a AU$6bn public, residential and commercial CBD precinct with a waterfront promenade. The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre will be expanded to create more space for major international events, while Star City is undergoing a major renovation.
“New South Wales businesses and the state Government are working closely together to ensure Sydney remains the Asia-Pacific’s leading business events destination for decades to come,” said BESydney Chief Executive Officer, Jon Hutchison. “The developments represent a once-in-200-year opportunity to transform Sydney’s CBD waterfront precincts for the business travel market and leverage the next phase of Sydney’s economic growth.”
Barangaroo will include a major hotel, commercial office towers, residential apartments, retail, restaurants and cultural facilities in a busy public waterfront precinct, with public open space and a new Headland Park.
The AU$550m proposed redevelopment of the entertainment centre at Darling Harbour includes the new Sydney Multifunctional Convention and Entertainment Centre (SMCEC) on the site of the existing carpark at Haymarket.
The existing Sydney Entertainment Centre (SEC) will be demolished, opening up new development and public space in south Darling Harbour. The new facility will feature 20,000sqm of new floor space, increasing capacity to 40,000sqm, with a conference and entertainment auditorium capable of seating up to 12,000 people. The project is expected to be completed by 2015.
The AU$860m Star City redevelopment will include adding a 3,000-seat multipurpose events centre, a further 172-room hotel to complement the existing 350-room hotel and 130 apartments.
New research from The University of Technology, Sydney shows that business events in Sydney have created long-term benefits for NSW and Australia through providing research funding, education, new industry networks and expansion of local knowledge. “These benefits cannot be estimated by a dollar figure and extend well past the last delegate leaving the city,” Hutchison added.
Hutchison cited the example of the 4th International Aids Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention which Sydney hosted in 2007 with 6,000 delegates in attendance from over 140 countries.
“As a result of the publicity of this event and the knowledge transfer stemming from the global leaders in attendance, a total of AU$35.7m was allocated to the University of NSW to continue the research instigated at that business event,” he added.
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