DUBAI

Dubai has named as the host of the World Vape Show in June 2020. Event organisers revealed the show will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre 2020.

MELBOURNE - Nine wins for MCEC's pastry team at the Australian Food Awards In another successful year, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s pastry chefs have added nine medals to their ever-growing trophy cabinet at the 2019 Australian Food Awards.

BRISBANE - Sunshine Coast's new food festival delivers bumper harvest of tourists Sunshine Coast’s new food festival, The Curated Plate, attracted over 13,000 visitors, with large numbers coming from interstate, the rest of Queensland, and overseas, particularly New Zealand.

Offering a new approach to food festivals, the aim of event was to showcase the Sunshine Coast as a premium food destination, with events held throughout the region.

The emphasis on ‘local’ was integral to the success of the festival, with local producers and local restaurateurs starring alongside renowned national and international guest chefs.

From seafood safaris in Caloundra and fine dining in the hinterland, through to bush tucker in Eumundi and a unique DeguSTATION experience aboard the Mary Valley Rattler steam train, local food producers, restaurants, breweries and boutique tour operators were inspired to introduce new interactive experiences to highlight the maturity and diversity of the region’s food and beverage sector.

SYDNEY - Luna Park Sydney a Finalist in the Australian Event Awards

With 480 events delivered over the qualifying period, including a big jump in the number of total precinct takeover events, Luna Park Sydney has been selected as a national Finalist in eps Australia Best Achievement in Venue Management in the 2019 Australian Event Awards.

COUNTRY EVENTS – ORANGE NSW

Orange City Council has announced it was boosting its sponsorship budget for events with organisers now able to access three times more than last year. Council will invite funding applications in May, August and October, with $100,000 now available to organisers, up from $33,088 last year.

New events, or those being run for a second time will share in $20,000, major events that attract overnight visitors will share in $30,000, a further $30,000 is available to existing events which can demonstrate a strategy for future growth while a pool of $20,000 is available to support events that occur as a new and unplanned opportunity for Orange.

Applications will be reviewed by a panel of staff from Orange City Council, Orange 360 and regional tourism authorities, which will make funding recommendations to the council.

MELBOURNE – NEW FUNCTION AREA

Melbourne and Olympic Park will showcase its new function and media centre at IMEX America. The venue known as CENTREPIECE at Melbourne Park, will offer indorr and outdoor function spaces across 3 levels with capacity up to 3000 guests. Australian travel tech firm Kudos expands its platform with Amadeus

BRISBANE

Brisbane-based technology company Kudos Travel Technology has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with global travel technology company Amadeus. In collaboration with Amadeus, Kudos has released a new innovative passport scanning feature within its platform that enables passport documents to be uploaded, validated and synchronized to booking tools, global distribution systems, such as the Amadeus Travel Platform, and other third party systems in a matter of seconds. The passport feature will not only address the issue of data accuracy in the corporate travel space, but also provide additional levels of efficiency for travel management companies and their clients.

EVENTS AIR LIFETIME ACHEIVEMENT AWARD

Sally Brown honoured with EventsAIR lifetime achievement award event industry stalwart Sally Brown has been honoured with the EventsAIR 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent EventsAIR Rise User Conference.

Brown worked at the University of Queensland (UQ) Conference Department before setting up her own event management business in 1998 which she ran for over 20 years delivering over 110 conferences, many with either an environmental or nature focus. She has recently retired from the meetings industry. “Every meeting planner knows what it takes to be a great meeting planner,” said Trevor Gardiner, CEO at EventsAIR.

“You need to be calm, smart, have high attention to detail, manage pressure and deliver great events. To do this constantly for two to three years is admirable. To do this for five to 10 years shows determination and passion. To dedicate over 30 years to continually organise and execute events is awe inspiring.”

TRAVEL - East Coast Flights to London

Direct flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to London are one step closer with Qantas ramping up its test flight program Operation Sunrise. The national carrier is also looking to launch the first direct flights between Sydney and New York, which is expected to take about 19 hours.

PERTH:

Australia’s newest mega-venue, Optus Stadium, recently hosted 20 VIP guests for the first ever dinner on the venue’s field of play, proving its capability of hosting large-scale and intimate events equally well. Located on the Burswood Peninsula in Perth, Western Australia, Optus Stadium combined the best of the region’s produce with the impressive sporting facilities to host an event to remember.

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