Head for a M!CE time in Australia
Business Events Australia, along with Tourism Australia's partners Melbourne Convention Bureau and Business Events Sydney, and SOTC, recently hosted five corporates from Mumbai to a six-day luxury famil to Australia. Here’s what the corporates had to say
Even before Australia had removed all travel restrictions for international travellers (dated July 6, 2022) the destination had started to see movement from India – not just FIT but student and corporate travel. Taking advantage of the interest it saw building up, Tourism Australia in India planned a corporate famil – the first that Australia welcomed since the border reopened. Five corporates were a part of this and this famil. For Kketan Pabari, Head – Commercial & Procurement, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Company, all the activities the group did in Melbourne and Sydney were amazing. “If I had to choose, two things really stood for me. One was the Sydney Cricket Ground because most Indians love the game and will love visiting this place. The other one that I loved from the nature point of view was Glenworth Valley in Sydney where we did horseriding and quad biking," he said.
New destinations discovered
This was his first visit to Australia, says John Pareira, Manager – Travel, Lupin. “I now understand what can be included and what can’t be, keeping the budget in mind. We have never done a group to Melbourne. So, this trip was an eye-opener. I realise
that we can create an itinerary for eight days or more and include Melbourne in it,” he adds.
Cricket a big draw
Cletus Colaco, Senior, General Manager (Market Development) Gulf Oil Lubricants India, showed more interest the in cricket venues. He said, “We saw Melbourne and Sydney Cricket Grounds, which was excellent. Both have a lot of space where we can do conferences, gala dinners and performances. The Melbourne Skydeck is also good for social events. Even the Harley Davidson ride we did in Sydney was good.”
State Bank of India was also part of this famil and with a staff of over 10,000 employees, it organises many corporate trips. Bhaumin Shah, Associate VP, SBI, said, “After visiting Australia myself, I know that there are many other options as well that we can incorporate, specially for our 200-300 top performers.”
A new option for MICE
This visit was a dream for Melvin Joseph, Dy GM (Sales Service & Administration – Lifestyle) Raymond, and he managed to have a good look around for his groups. “I think there are a lot of opportunities, specially in Sydney – I think that is one of the best cities I have visited and our groups will enjoy it.
Speaking from the tour operator point of view, Naveen Kukreti, Associate Vice president – MICE, SOTC Travel, shared that his company has brought many groups to Australia after COVID. “This was the first group we did to Australia after borders opened. We have a lot of groups lined up.