Australia’s leading venue, the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre is anticipating a busy 2005 as it plays host to some of the largest business events on the national meeting calendar.

The Centre enjoyed a big start to the year when it hosted a massive 13,250 delegate incentive meeting from Asia in the traditionally quiet month of January.

Centre Chief Executive Ton van Amerongen said the meeting of Amway representatives from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China marked the start of a year filled with a high number of large international and national meetings.

Mr van Amerongen said he was anticipating more bookings for the year, with trade shows such as last week’s AIME event in Melbourne playing an important role in profiling the Centre’s many attributes.

Mr van Amerongen said the Centre expected to host more than 39,000 delegates at 23 international events throughout 2005.

These include incentive events such as the Amway group, the 2000-delegate Cathay Life Asian incentive meeting in April and major international congresses including:

• 11th World Congress on Pain – August 2005, 4000 pax
• International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2005 – August 2005, 4000 pax
• XVIII World Congress of Neurology 2005 – November 2005, 5000 pax

“Numbers for national association meetings and national corporate meetings are also strong with the Centre set to host events like the AHRI (Australia Human Resources Institute) National Convention, which will bring 1000 delegates to the Centre in June,” he said.

Mr van Amerongen said the Centre’s six exhibition halls would also be extremely busy throughout the year.

In all, the Centre would handle more than 600 national and international events and exhibitions during 2005.

“The Centre’s excellent reputation, its world-class facilities and prime waterfront location are just some of the reasons why our schedule is so full and why national and international event organizers are so keen to hold their meetings here,” Mr van Amerongen said.

He said that Asia was proving a significant source of new business for the venue, with strong bookings for incentive meetings and gala dinners from the region. This business is expected to grow following the Centre’s move to open an office in Hong Kong last year.

Mr van Amerongen said competition for national meetings was also intense.

“In this environment we are continuing to concentrate on our key strengths including our premier location, dedication to professional service and the Centre’s purpose-built facilities.”