Details of Sydney’s most exciting waterfront developments for conferences, conventions and incentive travel worth more than $7 billion – Barangaroo, the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre and Star City Casino – were revealed at the Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo (AIME) 2011 in Melbourne.
 

An impression of the new events and entertainment precinct in Sydney’s Darling Harbour area

Barangaroo is a rare and exciting opportunity to transform 22 hectares of former wharves and industrial space on Sydney Harbour into a $6 billion public, residential and commercial CBD precinct with a waterfront promenade running the length of the site. The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre will be expanded to create more space for major international events, while Star City is undergoing a major renovation.

Senior representatives from Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre  joined Barangaroo’s director of communication and marketing, Scott Maclean, and Star City managing director, Sid Vaikunta, for the first time together to promote their multi-billion dollar redevelopments at an official media conference at AIME in Melbourne.

Business Events Sydney Chief Executive Officer Jon Hutchison AM said, “NSW businesses and the NSW Government are working closely together to ensure Sydney remains the Asia-Pacific’s leading business events destination for decades to come.

“The developments represent a once in 200 year opportunity to transform Sydney’s CBD waterfront precincts for the business travel market and leverage the next phase of Sydney’s economic growth”, he added.

Barangaroo will become a major hub in Sydney’s CBD, with a major hotel, commercial office towers, residential apartments, retail, restaurants and cultural facilities in a busy public waterfront precinct, with public open space and a new Headland Park.

The $550 million proposed redevelopment of the entertainment centre at Darling Harbour includes the new Sydney Multifunctional Convention and Entertainment Centre (SMCEC) on the site of the existing carpark at Haymarket.

The existing Sydney Entertainment Centre (SEC) will be demolished, opening up new development and public space in south Darling Harbour. The new facility will feature more than 20,000 square metres of new floor space increasing capacity to a total of over 40,000 square metres, with a conference and entertainment auditorium capable of seating up to 12,000 people. The project is expected to be completed by 2015.

The $860 million Star City redevelopment will transform the casino into a world-class venue, adding a 3,000 seated capacity multi-purpose Events Centre, a further 172 room hotel to complement the existing 350 hotel and 130 apartments, plus several new highly acclaimed restaurants.

These developments will increase the attraction of Sydney as a business events destination, building on the strong base already established. “BESydney has secured an estimated $530 million of economic impact for NSW in the coming years. But it is not just the economic impact we are measuring”, said Mr Hutchison.

He added “Our University of Technology, Sydney commissioned research report shows that business events in Sydney have created major long term benefits for NSW and Australia through providing research funding, education, new industry networks and expansion of local knowledge. These benefits cannot be estimated by a dollar figure and extend well past the last delegate leaving the city

“A prime example of this is the 4th International Aids Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention which Sydney hosted in 2007 with 6,000 delegates in attendance from over 140 countries.

“As a result of the publicity of this event and the knowledge transfer stemming from the global leaders in attendance, a total of $35.7 million was allocated to the University of New South Wales to continue the research instigated at that business event. This included a personal donation of $18 million from Bill and Melinda Gates”, said Hutchison.