Eighteen business event planners recently visited Alice Springs as part of the annual Alice Stampede mega-familiarisation.
Now in its fifth year, Alice Stampede is a joint initiative of the Alice Springs Convention Centre and the Northern Territory Convention Bureau (NTCB), and includes a wide range of Alice Springs suppliers.
The program incorporated off-site dinner locations, cultural activities and the chance to be one of the first in Australia to experience the inaugural Parrtjima light show which was staged across the expansive MacDonnell Ranges.
Business Forum sessions held at the Alice Springs Convention Centre were facilitated by former NT Convention Bureau head, Scott Lovett, who is now the regional executive director of economic development with the Northern Territory Government’s department of the chief minister. Lovett also introduced a range of speakers who talked about a region where innovation, resourcefulness and community spirit are critical to success.
These included Suzanne Morgan from Tourism NT, Lyndon Frearson from solar technology specialist, CAT Projects and Sarah Brown from the Alice Springs dialysis specialist clinic, social enterprise and community centre known locally as The Purple House. Event planner, Savio D’Sa talked about the National Conference of Gerontology that he helped stage in Alice Springs in November 2015. He emphasised how his participation on Alice Stampede in 2013 had not only helped him to decide on Alice Springs as the host destination, but also provided a plethora of creative ideas.
Other Alice Stampede activities included early morning hot air ballooning, racing down in the ‘river’ in a mini Henley-on-Todd regatta, visiting local markets and iconic Alice Springs attractions such as Simpson’s Gap, the Alice Springs Telegraph Station and the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
