More than 4,000 delegates from India have arrived in Melbourne this week for the Amway India Leadership Seminar 2012; the largest Indian incentive group ever to be hosted in Australia.
The delegation is expected to inject more than $20 million into the local economy during their Australian visit.
Amway is using the event to reward successful Indian sales operators during the seven-day itinerary that will see them attend a business session at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), enjoy exclusive access to Phillip Island Nature Parks and participate in a cricket match on the hallowed turf of the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) during a gala dinner.
Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB) won the rights for the city to host the Amway India Leadership Seminar.
“Winning the bid to host the Amway India Leadership Seminar in Melbourne was a major coup for MCVB and Victoria, and showcases that we are well and truly set up for this market,” said MCVB’s chief executive officer, Karen Bolinger who notes that the Indian market is a major business events target for the organisation.
“The Indian market is a long-term investment for us as we continue to maintain strong relationships and build new ones with key trade partners and corporate clients through regular in-market visits, familiarisation programs and other marketing channels in partnership with Tourism Australia and Tourism Victoria,” Bolinger said.
“The fact that we will accommodate the Amway India Leadership Seminar in one wave speaks volumes for the city’s world-class infrastructure, facilities and suppliers – particularly given the itinerary was tailor-made specifically for this group.”
To capture this, MCVB has been working in partnership with Business Events Australia, the specialist team within Tourism Australia, dedicated to promoting the country as a business event destination internationally.
Tourism Australia managing director, Andrew McEvoy said the scale and profile of the Indian delegation provides Australia with a real opportunity to demonstrate its expertise in staging world-class business events.
“India is a key market offering strong future potential for both business and leisure travel thanks to the nation’s rapid economic rise through this Asian Century, and Tourism Australia has a robust strategic framework in place to steadily grow the market out to 2020,” McEvoy said.
“We also know business events visitors in particular are high yielding and critical to helping the industry achieve our 2020 goals, which includes doubling the overnight expenditure generated by business events visitors to Australia to $16 billion annually by the end of the decade.”
During the year ending September 2012, 6,450 Indian delegates visited Australia for a convention or conference and another 26,450 visited for business purposes.
The 2012 Amway India Leadership Seminar follows the hosting of a number of successful corporate incentive programs for Amway in the Asia region. In 2008, Melbourne hosted a total of 7,200 delegates from Amway China (in several waves) and prior to that, the Victorian city hosted groups from the Philippines, Indonesia and Korea.
The event will conclude on 15 December with many delegates expected to explore more of Victoria and Australia before travelling home.
