Rockhampton Regional Council's Economic Development unit, Advance Rockhampton, are hosting national conference organisers and event managers this weekend through its inaugural Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) Famil.
The MICE Famil, a three-day showcase of Rockhampton, is designed to promote the region as a destination to host national business events.
Rockhampton Regional Council Mayor Tony Williams said the Rockhampton region is already the destination of choice for national events and conferences and has the facilities to accommodate future large-scale events.
"Rockhampton is home to a range of unique conference facilities, authentic experiences, attractions and award-winning accommodation, making it the perfect destination for business meetings, staff incentive trips, and national conferences and events," Mayor Williams said.
"Our region is already host city to national events like Beef Australia, Rockynats, and has hosted hundreds of delegates for the Developing Northern Australia conference.
"Rockhampton has the facilities to host many more national conferences and events, and with an Airport to accommodate flights arriving direct from Brisbane we are the perfect choice for conferences and events in Central Queensland.
"I strongly encourage national professional conference and event organisers to consider Rockhampton as the host city for their next conference or event."
Advance Rockhampton's Executive Manager Greg Bowden said the Rockhampton MICE Famil aligns with Advance Rockhampton's overarching economic development strategy.
"According to Tourism Research Australia, in 2019 alone 27 million business trips were taken across Australia with 70% of travellers spending their time in commercial accommodation and $22.7 billion spent during those trips," Mr Bowden said.
"This proves that promoting cities to business travellers should be an important part of any region's tourism strategy as they can bring valuable dollars into the local economy.
"By hosting the decision makers in organising national conferences and events, we aim to put Rockhampton on the radar as one of Australia's leading conference and events destinations.
"The Rockhampton region already has strong ties with business travellers in the agriculture, health, technology, legal, sporting, FMCG, defence and finance industries, and our MICE Famil will help to broaden those ties to all industries across Australia.
"As the economic heart of Central Queensland with state-of-the-art conference facilities and award-winning accommodation, the Rockhampton region can and will continue to support future national conferences and events."
Advance Rockhampton has partnered with Tourism Australia as part of their Business Events Boost program to deliver the inaugural Rockhampton MICE Famil.
