Speaking at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting, Chairman of the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB), Mr Chris Barlow, announced that MCVB had achieved record-breaking results in the 2010/11 financial year.

MCVB secured 245 business events (i.e. won and/or assisted) across the business, an increase of 37 per cent from 2009/10.

“These events are expected to deliver 92,236 delegates to Melbourne in the coming years and generate in excess of $354 million for the state economy,” Mr Barlow said.

“These figures represent an increase of 28 per cent and 32 per cent from 2009/10 respectively, which is an outstanding achievement.

“One of MCVB’s most significant wins in the 2010/11 financial year was the World Congress of Cardiology, which is one of the largest and most prestigious medical conferences in the world.

“The four-day Congress will be held in Melbourne in 2014 attracting more than 9,000 cardiologists and other health care professionals, generating an economic impact in excess of $36 million.

“MCVB also secured one of its largest incentive groups since the Incentive and Corporate Travel department was established in 2006 with the Amway India Leadership Seminar.

“The group of more than 4,400 delegates coming to Melbourne in 2012 will be the largest Indian incentive group in Australia’s history and it is expected that the event will generate more than $23 million for the the state economy.”

Other key achievements for MCVB in the 2010/11 financial year were as follows:

• An increase of 72 per cent in the number of new leads generated
• An increase of 135 per cent in the number of incentive and corporate sales business events secured
• An increase of 43 per cent in economic impact achieved through business facilitated by MCVB’s Melbourne Meetings + Events Service
• An increase of 25 per cent in the number of events serviced by the Convention Servicing department
• An increase of 10 per cent in the number of attendees to the Asia-Pacific Incentives& Meetings Expo (AIME)

MCVB also produced a number of world-first innovations for a convention and visitors bureau (CVB) in the last financial year including: the Business Events Marketing e-Kit, a suite of five free ‘white’ label online and mobile products; the use of Augmented Reality for the invitation to the AIME Welcome Reception and as an incentive product; and the use of Braille as a research tool.

“These results are testament to MCVB’s deserved reputation as a world-leading CVB and Australia’s business events capital,” Mr Barlow said.

“MCVB was inducted into the prestigious Meetings and Events Australia (MEA) Hall of Fame for winning the national ‘Metropolitan Destination Marketing Organisation’ award for three consecutive years in the last financial year, a feat which we are very proud of.

“Similarly, AIME was also inducted into the MEA Hall of Fame in the category of ‘Exhibition of the Year’, which is further proof of its status as the must-attend event in the Asia-Pacific region.

“These accomplishments wouldn’t be possible without the dedication, passion and hard work of our staff and representatives in Melbourne and New South Wales, as well as the United States, United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.

“I would also like to thank the State Government of Victoria for their ongoing support of the Bureau and look forward to what I hope will be yet another record-breaking year ahead.”