Sydney’s aspirational value as a conference and incentive destination continues to be recognised by Asian corporate and association groups. “Sydney is increasing its successful operations in Asia, expanding its business development team and mounting new sales missions in key markets,” says Jon Hutchison, managing director of Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Asian groups can expect to hear much more from Sydney as we launch new branding and marketing initiatives, and provide greater support to event organisers.

Tourism Australia’s Business Events team recently conducted its annual Asia Corporate Familiarisation trip, which included Sydney. Participants were able to see and feel the Australian destinations with peers from across the region.

“The Asia Corporate Familiarisation helps corporate clients to understand the local trends and how Tourism Australia can help them achieve their objectives in staging successful events in Australia,” says Johnny Nee, regional general manager, North Asia, for Tourism Australia. “We see encouraging business events movements from Asia to Australia; particularly in markets like China, Korea and India.”




Recent corporate groups to make return visits to Sydney include HSBC and Amway, while Fortis and Bayer also took their first conference and incentive groups to the harbour-city destination.


ATTRACTIVE CHOICE
Angela Pan, head of sales, marketing and excellence, Bayer Healthcare, says: “We chose Sydney because it was a beautiful city and a very attractive incentive destination. From our employees’ feedback after the event, most of them think the Sydney conference was the best event they’ve participated in.


“A large part of the success of our annual conference was also due to the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau, especially the assistance provided at our award ceremony where we invited [Olympic gold medal winner] Ian Thorpe to be the key VIP.”


LOCAL ICONS
Sydney has a wealth of incentive options waiting for Asian groups. The Sydney Opera House is hard to beat as an inspirational location for meetings and awards dinners. The building can take group sizes ranging from 20 to several thousand, with seven main areas used for corporate events.

The Utzon Room is a major highlight, named after the architect who designed the iconic landmark. It holds up to 270 for cocktail functions or 200 for banquets. FIFA recently held its annual global congress there for more than 1,000 delegates. 

For events on Sydney Harbour, Captain Cook Cruises can accommodate up to 2,000 guests across its fleet of 15 charter cruise boats.


SEAFOOD DINING
Sydney is spoilt for choice when it comes to dining options. The Waterfront Restaurant is in a heritage-listed building with memorable views overlooking the harbour and Sydney Opera House. It features six dining areas with the largest able to hold up to 150 people, while its outdoor terrace can take up to 1,200 people.

AMP Tower is Sydney’s tallest building and features 360, a revolving restaurant with views across the entire city that are best seen at night. Nick’s Seafood at Bondi Beach provides seafront dining at Australia’s most famous beach for groups of up to 150.

ACTION ADVENTURES
For more adventurous groups, the city has options including jetboating on the harbour, BridgeClimb and Harley-Davidson rides around the city for groups of up to 200. BridgeClimb offers two different climbing experiences – BridgeClimb, over the top of the bridge; and DiscoveryClimb, through the bridge’s infrastructure, with both climbs visiting the highest point on the bridge. Walks can also be arranged at dawn, twilight or night.


“BridgeClimb was a good activity with a bit of excitement for a group after a day of meetings,” says Jean Yeo, an administration assistant at Akzo Nobel.

Luna Park is an amusement park area under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, built on one of the city’s most desirable locations. Luna Park has ten events venues with the largest able to hold up to 2,000 delegates.

Outside of Sydney, Glenworth Valley also offers a range of outdoor experiences only an hour by car from Sydney’s CBD. Activities on offer include horse riding, kayaking and quad biking, with evening dinners and luxury camping conferences also available.

The nearby Australian Reptile Park is also worth a half-day outing with delegates able to interact with Australian wildlife such as kangaroos, koalas and, for the more adventurous, snakes and spiders. “The Reptile Park’s koalas and kangaroos are a good group option,” says David De-zhi Peng, director of AIG General Insurance China. “The barbecue in the park’s grounds also provides good teambuilding opportunities.”