Infrastructure

  • Melbourne has Australia's highest concentration of convention facilities located in the city centre.
  • Melbourne has more than 24,100 accommodation rooms located in the Melbourne Tourist Region with approximately 15,100 of these rooms located within the City of Melbourne and 9,200 in the Central Business District.
  • Melbourne has Australia's most flexible meeting facilities with the new Melbourne Convention Centre, which opened in June 2009. The new 6 Star Green Star energy rated centre boasts a 5,553 seat plenary hall, 32 meeting rooms, a grand banquet room, foyer for 8,400 guests, and is within a five minute walking distance of five major convention hotels.

Expertise

  • Melbourne is a truly global destination for major events, and is home to five of the six most significant annual sport events held in Australia - the Australian Football League Grand Final, the Melbourne Cup, the Australian Open Tennis Championship, the Boxing Day Cricket Test and the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix.
  • Melbourne is a founding partner of the BestCities Global Alliance - an international convention bureau network dedicated to the delivery of the world's best service experience for the meetings industry www.bestcities.net.
  • Melbourne is one of the most cosmopolitan and multicultural cities in the world, with 140 nations represented, 100 religious faiths and 180 different languages, each enriching the cultural life of the city. Melbourne can comfortably accommodate the religious, dietary and language requirements of almost any delegate group.

Access

  • Melbourne International Airport is open 24 hours, is curfew free and operates approximately 520 international flights and 3,200 domestic flights per week.
  • Twenty-six leading airlines fly to international destinations from Melbourne Airport.
  • Within a short distance of Melbourne are pristine beaches and rugged coastlines, scenic mountains and forests, historic towns, wineries, golf courses and Australian wildlife - ideal for post-conference touring and incentive programs.

Transport

  • Melbourne has a comprehensive, efficient and well-integrated public transport system.
  • Melbourne's compact city grid network and transport facilities allow easy access to all major hotels, meeting venues and local attractions. Many venues can be reached on foot.
  • Melbourne's Southern Cross (railway) Station features an airport-style transport interchange able to handle more than 30,000 passengers at peak hour times.
  • Melbourne offers a free City Circle Tourist Tram and Tourist Shuttle Bus for travelling around the city. These services link with other tram, train and light rail services in and around Melbourne. The City Circle Tram takes passengers past shopping malls and arcades, major attractions such as the Old Treasury Building, Parliament House and the Princess Theatre, as well as parks and gardens.

Business

  • Victoria is home to 139 biotech companies, 13 major medical research institutes, seven teaching hospitals and nine universities.
  • Melbourne has developed breakthrough products such as the Relenza anti-flu vaccine, the Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine, the cochlear implant, which has provided hearing for thousands of people throughout the world, and the atomic absorption spectrometer.
  • Melbourne is the headquarters for some major multinational corporations, such as BHP Billiton.

Climate

  • Melbourne has a hospitable temperate climate with one of Australia's lowest rainfalls.

Attractions

  • Melbourne is Australia's culinary capital with more than 3,000 restaurants, cafés and bars, serving around 75 different ethnic cuisines.
  • Melbourne is famous for its many and varied shopping experiences including outdoor markets, international boutiques, and local designers in historic laneways.
  • Melbourne is renowned for its arts and culture offering including museums, international festivals, galleries, opera, musicals, dance and theatre.
  • The State of Victoria has five wine growing regions and more than 100 wineries within 90 minutes of Melbourne city.

Accolades

  • One of the world's leading travel guides, Frommer's, selected Melbourne in its top destinations for 2010.
  • The Economist Intelligence Unit has selected Melbourne as Most Liveable City three times since 2002, and has also placed Melbourne in the top three 'World's Most Liveable Cities' every year since 2002.
  • In the FutureBrand 2009 Country Brand Index, Australia was selected as 'Best Country Brand to Extend a Business Trip'.
  • Melbourne was recognised as Best Sports City in the 2009 SportBusiness Sports Event Management Awards.
  • In a recent world study by Ethisphere that evaluated cities on their efforts to improve sustainability including transportation, economy, environment, health, education, arts, recreation and innovation, Melbourne was ranked among the top ten sustainable cities and was the only Australian city included.