ICC SYD CELEBRATES ONE YEAR

ICC Sydney will mark its first 12 months of operation on Wed, with the centre’s ceo Geoff Donaghy saying the period has exceeded all expectations.

Speaking to BEN ahead of the milestone, Donaghy said ICC Sydney couldn’t be happier with the way the first year went.

“We set ourselves a lot of ambitious targets with a great deal of expectations,” he said.

“We’ve ticked every box of our expectations. A big part of it was to get Sydney back on the national and int’l map after not having a centre for three years.”

Donaghy added that establishing a culture was at the forefront of the first year.

“It’s really been our people and our culture that have helped create extraordinary experiences for our clients. That has probably been the most leading aspect of the first year for me,” he said.

Donaghy said the reputation and brand ICC Sydney built had lifted Sydney’s ability to secure and target major events since opening last year.

“We were able to do that even in the construction period by securing events for the first few years before we opened.”

Before ICC Sydney opened its doors last year, Donaghy said many people considered the centre to be too ambitious in aiming to have 300 events on the books before opening.

“We ended up with 500 events booked before the centre opened, which was fantastic,” Donaghy said.

Key events for ICC Sydney in 2017 included the Int’l Bar Association Conference which had 4,500 delegates from 120 countries in Oct.

The centre also hosted 8,000 delegates for an Amway China incentive event.

Looking to 2018, Donaghy said the centre was ready to host 8,000 delegates for Sibos - the largest financial services conference in the world.

“This is the first time that Sibos has ever booked a venue while it was still under construction. That was a major vote of confidence for us during the construction phase.”