Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre’s (SCEC) strong run of major convention and incentive meetings is set to continue into 2005/06, with the venue hosting a series of high-profile medical congresses over the coming months.

The 3000-delegate 11^th World Congress on Pain and the 2000-delegate International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2005 will both be held at the Centre in August, while the 3500-delegate XVIII World Congress of Neurology 2005 will be held in November.

Centre Chief Executive Ton van Amerongen said these large medical conferences would bring thousands of overseas and national delegates to the venue, all of whom would make a significant economic contribution to Sydney.

Mr van Amerongen said the meetings were testimony to the Centre's international reputation for delivering successful events, as well as Sydney's strong appeal.

"Sydney outstrips all other Australian cities when it comes to event delegate numbers, and the year ahead is no exception."

He said the Centre had 23 international events and incentives scheduled in 2005/06, which were expected to attract more than 32,000 delegates.

“These bookings follow a very busy first half of 2005 in which the 13,250-delegate Amway incentive from Asia in January and the 2000-delegate Cathay Life Asian incentive in April brought huge numbers of people to the Centre,” Mr van Amerongen said.

Other major international events for the 2005/06 financial year include the 1500-delegate Leaders in Sydney Conference in October and a 1700-delegate Japanese incentive event in early 2006.

“Our national association and national corporate meeting forward bookings are also strong, with the Woolworths National Conference 2005 and Exhibition in August predicted to attract about 3000 delegates and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Annual Conference in May 2006 set to attract 1500 delegates,” Mr van Amerongen said.

In addition, the Centre’s six exhibition halls will be extremely busy with more than 80 events to be held in the halls during the next 12 months.

These include some of the biggest annual drawcards on the Centre’s calendar such as the Sydney International Boat Show in August, the Australian International Motor Show in October and the Sydney Gift Trade Fair in September.

“Sydney’s own appeal, coupled with the Centre’s enviable waterfront location in the heart of Darling Harbour, consistently attracts strong delegate numbers and attendances at any conference or event,” Mr van Amerongen said.

“Add to this the Centre’s renowned service, superb catering and world-class purpose-built facilities and we have a reputation for delivering the best events in one of the best locations in the world.”