By Jill Innamorati-Varley

Pullman Sydney Olympic Park, the only 5-star hotel in the Greater Sydney area, has teamed up with Balloons Aloft to offer hot-air ballooning as a standalone activity or as part of an overnight package.

Passengers are driven to one of several launch sites in the region extending west of Sydney Olympic Park at or before the break of dawn for an hour-long flight to the foothills of the Blue Mountains before returning to terra firma for a celebratory glass of bubbly and a choice of a hearty Pullman buffet breakfast.

Pullman Olympic Park general manager Marcus Hanna

Pullman Olympic Park general manager, Marcus Hanna, who took a flight early Monday (May 18), described his first hot air balloon flight as “an amazingly calm, even graceful” experience.

“Hot air ballooning is one of the many team building activities for meetings we can organise, including golf at the golf driving range, tennis, archery, cooking classes, swimming and mini-Olympics,” he said. “We also work very closely with our park partners, and even when there are no events in the park it’s like staying at a large resort, with so many activities on offer.”

Hanna added that the park was faring better in the MICE sector than many others areas of Sydney due to the fact that 30 of Australia’s top 500 companies are based in Greater Sydney, in business parks like Rhodes, Macquarie Park and Parramatta.

“They are large catchment areas for us and more and more companies are moving to the west,” he said “For the MICE market we are only 20 minutes from the Sydney CBD and driving here causes no parking or congestion issues.

“Added to this, we are located in the events precinct for Sydney with everything from Rugby Union and Rugby League, AFL, swimming, basketball, hockey, tennis, concerts and shows, so we have a strong leisure base,” he said.

For more information on Pullman Sydney Olympic Park, click here.