Three of Melbourne’s iconic business events venues, CENTREPIECE, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Pullman Melbourne on The Park have formed a strategic alliance to create a quintessentially Melbourne ‘Meet, Celebrate and Stay’ business conferencing experience.
The partnership was created to drive national and international conferences and business events to the precinct and comes on the back of a strong pipeline of 40 business and conference events secured by Visit Victoria for the State up until 2028, expected to deliver $150 million to the local economy.
Unrivalled as Melbourne’s home of sports and entertainment, the venues’ footprint spans from the edge of the Melbourne CBD and stretches through Fitzroy Gardens and down to the Yarra River edge, encompassing Yarra Park, the iconic MCG and Melbourne and Olympic Parks. This is a compelling precinct for hosts aiming to provide a ‘postcard’ Melbourne setting, as well as the benefits of accessible transport connections including tram, train, and boat.
When CENTREPIECE’s state-of-the-art conferencing and gala facilities opened in 2022, the precinct’s business events and conference offering was strengthened through a precinct-wide solution for hosts to ‘Meet, Celebrate and Stay’ in three of the city’s best venues, all located within walking distance. Both CENTREPIECE and the MCG were recently named finalists in the Victorian Tourism Awards.
A unique aspect of the iconic precinct is the ability for delegates to easily move throughout, with each venue conveniently located next to one another, connected by footbridges and walking paths. Accessibility carts can also commute between the properties as required.
After a relaxing night’s stay and breakfast overlooking Fitzroy Gardens at one of 419 five-star rooms at the recently renovated Pullman Melbourne on The Park, delegates can enjoy a refreshing walk across the gardens to CENTREPIECE, taking their seat in the 2,000 square metre grand hall for the day’s agenda. Taking a break from the conference, guests can enjoy networking and socialising in one of the MCG’s event spaces that hero the stadium’s art, culture and heritage roots, or take in an Australian Football League (AFL) match or concert, before strolling back to the Pullman.
Combining forces, the three premier venues are expecting strong interest in the coming year from domestic conferencing and business events, as well as international markets including the United Kingdom, United States, southeast Asia and New Zealand.
The collaboration has already seen key industry events utilise the three venues for a ‘Meet, Celebrate, Stay’ experience including Tourism Australia’s Destination Australia Conference in February, Association Forum Conference in April, and Visit Victoria’s Destination Victoria Conference held in June.
The Victorian State Government is also investing heavily in positioning Victoria as a leading business events destination, with $42.913 million in funding committed for the Business Events Program in the Victorian State Budget 2021/2022. This will enable Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) to continue to build Victoria’s reputation as the nation’s top business destination and to attract a strong pipeline of business events to the state.