Adelaide city just warming up
ADELAIDE’S growing capacity to host incentives and business events was well and truly on show at Dreamtime 2015.
“We’ve always done incentives really well but we haven’t been able to get the word out there,” said Damien Kitto, ceo Adelaide Convention Bureau.
The bureau has stepped up its marketing efforts, pushing the message “welcome to our home”.
“Welcome to our home is about inviting people into our home to experience a very personalised, boutique opportunity and that’s what Adelaide and South Australia incentives are all about,” Kitto said.
“The great thing about Adelaide is when you bring your incentive, we’re able to bring the people in and around your event and basically bring the city to life and offer a boutique experience.”
With a 300-500 pax sweet spot, but the capacity to host mega-conventions up to 4,000 people, the city has seen a number of changes in recent years.
Adelaide’s waterfront precinct and infrastructure has undergone billion dollar renovations over the last couple of years.
“We’ve got the biomedical health research precinct developing, that is going to be the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere. Along that whole precinct, there’s the casino, the convention centre, the festival centre and the very iconic and unique Adelaide oval,” Kitto said.
Hotels have also been popping up throughout the city with the opening of five-star property, The Mayfair earlier this year and a Sofitel and Sheraton in the works.
But it’s Adelaide’s food and wine, accessibility and people which Kitto says makes the city a hot contender for events.
The city has the most restaurants per capita in the country and produces 70% of Australia’s wine.
The State govt recently passed some legislation to make it very easy to start small businesses, which has seen a number of rooftop and laneway bars and restaurants open, a cultural shift which has been well received.
“We see Adelaide as very innovative, creative and the entrepreneurialism is growing and growing across the city,” Kitto said.