The Cairns Delegate Advantage Program is being enthusiastically supported by conference organisers who have praised the initiative as an example of the city working together to welcome conference delegates.

Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef director, Rosie Douglas said the program was used by the 1100 delegates at the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Conference at the Cairns Convention Centre last week.

“Cairns businesses who are members of Tourism Tropical North Queensland or the Cairns Chamber of Commerce can sign up for the free program and offer a value-add or discount of their choice to delegates attending conferences in the city,” she said.

Delegates have been enthusiastically suporting the recently launched programwhich provides them with added value from local businesses.

“A list of the participating businesses is available on www.businesseventscairns.org.au and each business has a sticker to display on their window, while delegates receive a flyer with a QR code and the website address so they can find out who is participating.

“An initiative of Business Events Cairns & Great Barrier Reef, the Cairns Convention Centre and the Cairns Chamber of Commerce, the program has been running for two months.

“We are getting a really positive response from conference organisers and it has already been used by six conferences at the Cairns Convention Centre.”

Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Conference organiser Sharyn Low said the Cairns Delegate Advantage Program offered fantastic value for conference delegates.

“The other benefit is that it saves our delegates time, as they can go to the listing and choose from a range of quality products without having to spend time researching,” she said. “It’s great to see a city working well together to welcome conference delegates.”

Cairns Mayor Bob Manning praised the initiative as a means of further boosting the business events industry which last financial year delivered $67 million directly and $201 million indirectly to the region’s economy.

“The Cairns Delegate Advantage Program highlights how our city’s lead business groups are working together to advance both the region and local business,” he said.