Club Melbourne Ambassadors put on a shiny new tiara, after a record year in 2014.
Ambassadors from Club Melbourne were awarded for securing 11 international conferences in 2014 – worth an estimated $24 million for Victoria – at the program’s annual awards ceremony held at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) recently.
Speaking at his first Club Melbourne event as the new Victorian Minister for Tourism and Major Events, The Honourable John Eren presented the ambassadors with awards and acknowledged their achievements.
“Club Melbourne has a fine reputation for promoting Melbourne to the global professional community and I congratulate Ambassadors for the great contribution they make bringing conferences to Victoria,” he said.
MCEC’s chief executive Peter King agreed, adding that they were incredibly proud of the ambassadors who volunteer their time to work with the team on major conferences.
“This year our world-leading Club Melbourne Ambassador Program celebrates 10 years – a huge milestone for an initiative that has secured 95 international conferences and contributed more than $580 million to the state,” King said.
“Melbourne has led the growth of the business events industry globally for the last decade and with the world investing in this sector in a big way, business is becoming incredibly competitive globally.
“Club Melbourne is such a valuable asset to Victoria and we’ll continue to invest in the program to secure more conferences for the city in collaboration with our ‘Team Melbourne’ partners.”
The Melbourne Convention Bureau’s Chief Executive Officer, Karen Bolinger said the Club Melbourne Ambassadors play a crucial role in the extensive bidding process and Melbourne’s success in securing major international conferences.
“I would like to thank our Ambassadors for their tireless commitment to winning these events for Melbourne, which not only drive economic contribution, but profile our city and state globally as a knowledge hub and centre of excellence in research and development,” she added.
The 11 international conferences secured by Ambassadors over the past year cover a broad range of fields including sport, engineering, medicine and science and will be held in Melbourne over the next five years.
Ambassador-secured conferences to be held at MCEC in 2015 include the Asia Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering Congress, SPLISS Conference and ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management.
From 30 original Club Melbourne Ambassadors in 2005, the program now includes 129 leaders from a diverse range of fields, who contribute to Victoria’s economic growth and international reputation.
Club Melbourne is owned and led by MCEC with support and collaboration from the Melbourne Convention Bureau and Victorian State Government.
