A RECORD YEAR WITH MORE TO COME
Posted 14 August 2019
The Adelaide Convention Centre (ACC) enjoyed a record year in 2018/2019, hosting 775 events and more than 350,000 visitors—both all-time highs for the venue. This included 70 major conferences, which attracted more than 31,000 international and interstate visitors and generated over 113,000 bed nights for local hotels.
Among highlights, the Centre welcomed the 38th Australian Dental Congress to Adelaide for the first time in May 2019, attracting more than 4,000 delegates and exhibitors. The ability to host the event was only made possible thanks to the ACC’s recent expansion, with the City and the Centre drawing overwhelmingly positive feedback from the client and delegates alike.
“The Adelaide Convention Centre is a market-leading facility, delivering big dividends for the local visitor economy,” says Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment David Ridgway.
“We are seeing significant levels of investment in new hotels within Adelaide on the back of business events, and increases in visitation generally. The Centre, coupled with the ongoing development of the Riverbank and Biomedical precincts, have reinforced Adelaide’s reputation as a leading destination and host city for business events.”
Simon Burgess, General Manager, Adelaide Convention Centre adds, “We’re delighted to be bringing more prestigious, large-scale international and national events to Adelaide. Looking ahead, we have an enviable line-up of major international conferences on the horizon, which will further enable us to showcase our City’s unrivalled business events capabilities and provide opportunities for delegates to extend their stay to explore the regions.”
The Centre’s bumper year also resulted in big business for local South Australian producers, with the ACC purchasing more than $4.6 million of food and beverages from local suppliers to help feed high-yielding delegates visiting the Centre. This included 80 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables; more than 57 tonnes of beef, chicken, lamb and pork; two tonnes of prawns; and 30,000 oysters; along with 85,000 litres of beer and cider and 40,000 bottles of wine.
“Looking ahead, the Adelaide Convention Centre is forecasting another record year in 2019/20, with an unprecedented number of large conferences coming to South Australia,” adds Mr. Burgess. “The pipeline of future business is at record levels with the Centre already having some 111 major conferences on its books for the coming years, including 29 conferences with more than 1,000 delegates expected to be in attendance. During the 2018/2019 financial year, the ACC team also issued a record number of business event contracts which is predicted to deliver a financial windfall for the State’s visitor economy.”
Among upcoming major events at the Adelaide Convention Centre are the World Fisheries Congress, October 2020 (1,500 delegates); the World Indigenous People’s Conference on Education, November, 2020 (3,000 delegates); the International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect, November 2020 (1,200 delegates); the World Congress of Echocardiography and Allied Techniques, April 2022 (1,000 delegates); and the International Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies which is due to be held in conjunction with the Australian Orthopaedic Association Annual Scientific Meeting, October 2025 (2,000 delegates combined).
ADDITIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Beyond hosting a record number of events and visitors in 2018/19, additional highlights for the ACC over the past year included a number of special accolades which recognised the venue’s commitment to sustainability and innovation.
EarthCheck Platinum: A Global Leader in Sustainability
The ACC reaffirmed its global sustainability leadership during 2018/19, becoming the world’s first convention centre to achieve EarthCheck’s coveted Platinum certification. This achievement represents ‘best practice’ in business and environmental sustainability and reflects 10 years of continuous certification with the internationally respected EarthCheck program. Highlighting the ACC’s sustainability efforts is a comprehensive food redistribution program which has seen the venue donate more than 160,000 meals to OzHarvest and Foodbank SA.
Australia’s Best Banqueting & Catering
The ACC was judged Australia’s best ‘Banqueting & Catering’ at the prestigious Meetings & Events Australia (MEA) National Awards—our country’s premier awards for the meetings and events industry—in April, 2019. The award follows the successful launch of the Centre’s innovative Honest Goodness menu philosophy. Developed in collaboration with leading nutritional experts at the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI); University of Adelaide; and CSIRO, Health & Biosecurity, Honest Goodness has transformed the convention centre culinary experience with its emphasis on minimal intervention foods and conscious reduction of processed elements.