Right : Bucket list destinations such as the rainforest are only an hour away .
Best and brightest head to Brisbane
Brisbane recently hosted the second World Science Festival , with some of the world ’ s leading scientists converging on the city . The festival showcased more than 115 performances and events from 138 scientists and innovators over five days at venues across South Bank ’ s Cultural Precinct .
Professor Suzanne Miller , CEO and director of the Queensland Museum Network , says the festival is great way to highlight the significant strides being taken to resolve some of today ’ s real world issues .
“ In recognition of World Water Day , the festival offered a suite of programming about our most precious commodity – water – which will examine what it will take to achieve the United Nation ’ s goal of providing clean , accessible and sustainably managed water for all by 2030 ,” she says .
The festival turned Brisbane ’ s Cultural Forecourt into a huge laboratory for two days , including science demonstrations , robot coding , rocket science and daytime solar viewing . Other highlights of the program included an orchestral performance and film in a live presentation of 2001 : A Space Odyssey , a discussion about life with robots , the race to secure Australia ’ s energy supply , the future of driverless driving , a showcase of ancient astronomy and a celebration of women in science .
The festival will be hosted by Queensland Museum until 2021 .
groups when finished in 2022 .
“ Those kind of developments in our own backyard and our openness to market ourselves as a dual itinerary with other destinations , we think we have a really good offering now ,” says Nelson .
The Bureau is looking at two , three or maybe at a stretch four day itineraries that take in an urban experience , a beach experience and a rainforest experience .
“ We have looked at what ’ s an hour from the CBD and you can absolutely tick the Australian bucket list from Brisbane ,” he says . Anchor the group in Brisbane , with Surfers Paradise , Australia Zoo ,
Tangalooma Island Resort on Moreton Island all within striking distance . A dual destination with the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef is also “ a really good offering ”.
Major events are another key driver for Brisbane , which has just finished hosting the World Science Festival for a second year . The Festival , which is exclusively hosted in only New York and Brisbane , has “ exceeded all expectations ”, according to Nelson .
“ Market research has showed that the notion that it is [ hosted ] only in Brisbane and New York carries a lot of weight . That ’ s a very strong brand proposition for us and gives is a lot of credibility ,” he says .
“ Using major strategic events to anchor off the back of business events is a focus for us . We are always looking to see what we spin off the back of these major events .”
Brisbane is also looking to showcase its appeal to international buyers when it hosts Dreamtime later this year .
“ I attended 2015 Dreamtime in Adelaide and was impressed with the interest the buyers had in a destination that possibly wasn ’ t well known to them ,” says Nelson . “ And I was impressed by the way Adelaide was showcased . We decided to go for 2017 as we have a great story to tell .”
24 Convention & Incentive Marketing , Issue 2 , 2017 www . cimmagazine . com