A decision by the Adelaide Convention Centre to diversify its revenue streams by creating its own events has paid dividends with more than 15,000 people passing through the doors from mid-February to mid-March.
As part of a strategic plan to increase revenue during the traditional downtime in the Australian conferencing calendar and at the same time promote the State’s key industries and events, the Centre created the Cellar Door Wine Festival – Adelaide and The Big Slapple Fringe precinct.
The Adelaide Convention Centre’s own $350 million expansion is a key part of the Riverbank redevelopment.
The multi-award winning Cellar Door Wine Festival – Adelaide is a three day event which brings together over 150 South Australian wineries from 13 iconic regions and local boutique food producers under one roof.
The Big Slapple draws its inspiration from the mood of the New York club scene with a blend of funky fringe venues including the Blue Note Club, Apollo Theatre and 48 Lounge. The Big Slapple hosted 54 performances by 17 artists during the 2013 Fringe.
This year, the Cellar Door Wine Festival-Adelaide attracted a record 7,000 visitors while shows in the Big Slapple precinct attracted a further 8,000.
Conferences and events held at the Centre during the same period added a further $1.95 million in economic benefit.
Adelaide Convention Centre Chief Executive Alec Gilbert said the diversification strategy was paying off and allowed the Centre to maximise revenue and employment during this period.
“We recognise that modern convention centres need to adapt and be more flexible in the types of events they host, he said.
“They also need to increase engagement with the local community and give them more reasons to visit, as well as attracting visitors from interstate and overseas.”
The Centre’s strategy has also been to create more activity on the Riverbank as the precinct is developed as Adelaide’s future business, entertainment and sporting hub.
The Adelaide Convention Centre’s own $350 million expansion is a key part of the Riverbank redevelopment.
Stage One, which includes an additional 4,300 square metres of multipurpose convention floor space, is now well underway and due for completion in 2014. Stage Two of the redevelopment, replacing the existing Plenary Building (home of the original Centre in 1987) with a multi-purpose, state-of-the-art facility with plenary capacity of up to 3,500 seats, is scheduled for completion in June, 2017.
