Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre takes traffic management online

In a first for the Australian events industry, the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre has designed an online traffic management system for its exhibition hall loading docks.
The move is part of the Centre’s ongoing program to boost operational efficiency and recognises the high level of demand put on the Centre’s six exhibition halls, which are the busiest in the country.

The new system enables a central traffic controller to log all truck arrivals online, and advise waiting drivers by SMS when it is their turn to move to the loading dock to offload or collect exhibition material.

The system also allows exhibition organisers to easily review the flow of traffic during their event, while freight companies can access the system to assess waiting times for their vehicles.

Chief Executive Ton van Amerongen said the Centre’s security team had studied venue traffic management methods worldwide before partnering with a company to tailor-make its own system, which breaks new ground.

“No other venue in Australia has an online management system and whilst some international venues use them, we discovered that none of them offered the detail we need so we decided to create our own,” Mr van Amerongen said.

“The new system is premised on the need for efficiency and safety on the loading docks. Not only does it reduce the waiting time for trucks, it keeps all the key players in the loop during the crucial days spent setting up and dismantling an exhibition.”

Mr van Amerongen said the program also provided post-event reports which could be used by organisers to assist planning for future events.

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Australia is the Ultimate Incentive: Business Events Australia

With some 90-plus per cent of surveyed Americans saying they have always wanted to go to Australia, Business Events Australia is confident that Australia is in good stead to incentivize employees.

e-Travel Blackboard was on location at last week’s IMEX America in Las Vegas, where regional general manager Daryl Hudson shared findings of a recent study revealing that Australia is the number one desired incentive destination for Corporate End Users, after cash incentives.

The survey also saw American event organizers list Australia as a once in a lifetime experience for many delegates.

“We are thus in a good position to play an important role in incentivizing employees to achieve and to win that Australian trip,” Mr Hudson said.

With Australia’s diverse array of destination offerings, its ability to make conducting business a breeze and its strong aviation linkages to North America, Mr Hudson told e-Travel Blackboard he wwas pleased with the enquiries at the inaugural IMEX America, symptomatic of the country’s overall performance.

According to Mr Hudson, Australia had a great year for business events in 2010, a success that has been maintained into 2011.

“We saw an overall 19 percent increase of business in 2010 over 2009 from the United States.

“Up until June this year (which is the latest data we have available), we saw a three per cent increase in the convention and conference arrivals and a nine per cent increase in total business arrivals.”

The US is Australia’s second largest source market for business events after Commonwealth neighbor, New Zealand.

Next month Business Events Australia will host fifteen US delegates at Dreamtime, Tourism Australia’s premier incentive showcase.

(Source: eTravelblackboard.com)