With the Cairns Convention Centre $176 million expansion opening soon, Cairns is showcasing its ability to host sustainable meetings, conferences and incentives with a bumper lineup of events.

The tropical city kicked March off with the Strata Community Association Queensland annual conference and is set to end it on a high note with the Business Events Cairns and Great Barrier Reef Conference bringing its members together the Far North Queensland capital.

Showing no signs of slowing down any time soon, in coming months, Cairns will host the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists National Convention and the Australian Banana Industry Congress at the Cairns Convention Centre.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland partnership and events general manager Rosie Douglas said the region was also hosting key Asian meeting planners and delivering a business events conference for local industry.

“Strategic conferences like these during the shoulder season help to build the capacity and profile of our local industries while bringing in delegates who tend to spend twice as much as a leisure visitor and often return for a holiday with their family,” Douglas said.

A highlight on Cairns’ business events calendar is event management company Arinex’s 50th anniversary celebration which Douglas said would highlight the importance of business events to the local economy while fitting in with the destination’s push to reduce the carbon footprint of events.

“As Australia’s first certified carbon neutral event company, Arinex wants to offset their event and delegates will join the first tree planting in critically endangered Mabi rainforest on the Atherton Tablelands as part of our Reforest Carbon Offsetting program for business events.”

Arinex managing director Nicole Walker said Cairns was chosen as the location for the company-wide conference due to its blend of exceptional event and accommodation options, warm hospitality and awe-inspiring natural wonders.

“Cairns is the perfect location for us to celebrate this momentous occasion, reflect on our progress and set our sights on the path ahead,” Walker said.

Around Arinex 55 team members will gather at the Cairns Convention Centre from Monday, 27 March for their first face-to-face conference. The carbon neutral event will feature three days of presentations and workshops, followed by eco-certified tours of the World Heritage-listed tropical rainforests and iconic Great Barrier Reef.