Go Places Brisbane - Expand Your View. Engage Your Mind.

Australia’s new world city, Brisbane is a cultural and economic powerhouse with a young, skilled workforce and culturally-diverse population of more than two million.

Its thriving cultural scene, natural attractions and globally-connected businesses and industries have put it well on track to becoming one of world’s most prosperous new world cities.

Brisbane offers an open, enterprising and progressive business environment with a strong culture of confidence and innovation, providing the perfect location for your most successful conference ever.

According to the World Winning Cities 2012 Report produced by international property specialist Jones Lang Lasalle, Brisbane will rank first out of the top 20 fastest growing economies of the world by 2020.

Brisbane’s prosperity has seen the city develop a world-class cultural precinct that’s home to Australia’s most visited gallery GOMA - The Gallery of Modern Art. The nearby South Bank parklands is home to vast subtropical gardens, an eclectic mix of bars and restaurants and other cultural attractions which are making an increasing mark on the international stage.

The city’s growing profile will reach an even wider international audience in November 2014 when Brisbane hosts the G20 Leaders Summit. The event will bring thousands of delegates and international media to the city’s multi-award winning Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, a facility that sets the standard for conference venues in the Asia Pacific region.

Brisbane’s 50 CBD hotels, ranging from budget to boutique, cater for hundreds of thousands of business visitors and tourists each year, with thousands more international students enriching the city’s cultural life at its three major universities.

With an award-winning international airport located within 20 minutes of the CBD and world class transport links, Brisbane is the ideal location for conference organisers looking to maximise opportunities with East Asia’s tiger economies.

Brisbane’s acclaimed universities and research institutions are fuelling the innovation and growth that will see the city’s economy almost double from $114 billion to $215 billion by 2031.

The city’s reputation as a science and technology hotspot has seen it emerge as a magnet for international investment, with some of the world’s leading companies now calling Brisbane home.

Acknowledged as a research centre of excellence in energy and resources, health and life sciences and digital industries, Brisbane is also helping to drive innovation in environmental sustainability.

Brisbane is home to Australia’s first Ecosciences Precinct, dedicated to solving some of the country’s biggest environmental issues. Its research positions Brisbane as a global leader in balancing quality of life and environmental impacts with the development of strong industries.

The city is also home to the CSIRO’s Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies, the largest research facility of its type in Australia. The centre houses a world-class research and development precinct providing the highest standard of science, engineering and innovation to the Australian mining, exploration, minerals processing and manufacturing industries.

Over 170 of the world’s leading mining companies - including Rio Tinto, GE Mining and Vale – are now located in the city’s CBD, attracted by Brisbane’s proximity to Asia’s tiger economies and its world-class research and development capability.

Brisbane continues to attract the world’s best and brightest researchers to work in biomedical, biopharmaceutical, human therapeutics and diagnostic and clinical trials. The city is home to the world’s first Translational Research Institute, established by Professor Ian Frazer, the creator of the world’s first cervical cancer vaccine. The Queensland Institute of Medical Research, also based in Brisbane, conducts important research into tropical diseases, cancer, asthma, HIV, malaria, endometriosis and dengue fever.

Australia’s new world city, Brisbane has also emerged as a leader in innovative and knowledge-based industries. It has a clear strategy to be among the world’s best. A group of ‘Digital Champion’ companies have been identified in Brisbane, showcasing the city’s digital readiness and capability.

Many influential multinational information communications technology companies are based in Brisbane including IBM, Red Hat and SAP. The city is attracting an ever-increasing number of specialists such as mining software engineers Ventyx, data technologists NEXTDC and games developers like Half Brick Studio, who see Brisbane as ‘Australia’s Silicon Valley’.

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, is Australia’s most awarded convention venue. Internationally it is consistently ranked among the world’s top three convention centres.

Serviced by domestic and international airports, with 32 airlines operating more than 3,500 international and domestic flights each week, and more than 12,500 accommodation rooms across the city, Brisbane provides a stand-out location for international and Asia Pacific conferences.

The Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC), located in South Bank – a lively riverside cultural and dining precinct in the heart of the city – is the jewel of Brisbane’s convention infrastructure. With premium event facilities, the centre’s $140m boutique expansion (opened in January 2012) has already enhanced the centre’s reputation. An overall 52% increase in convention space, including two-tiered auditoria for smaller and medium-sized meetings, establishes the BCEC as Australia’s most flexible venue. The centre can cater from 80 to 8000 people and is renowned for its high standards of personal service and operational excellence. BCEC was recently recognised as Australia’s Best Function/Convention Centre Caterer and Caterer of The Year at the 2011 Restaurant & Catering Awards.

On the Centre’s doorstep is Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), State Library of Queensland, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre and the South Bank’s retail and restaurant precinct. This cultural precinct is a regular host of markets, cultural displays and community events. Conveniently located just minutes from the CBD, this is an impressive part of the world to facilitate the discussion of ideas and showcase your business and industry.

Choosing Brisbane to host the G20 Leaders Summit in 2014 acknowledges the city’s appeal as an international business destination with state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure.

Around 7,000 delegates, including leaders of the world’s top 20 economies as well as international media, will converge on the recently expanded Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre for the world’s premier forum for global economic cooperation and decision-making.

This ringing endorsement of Brisbane reflects its growing reputation as Australia’s new world city, a reputation that was further enhanced when Brisbane was ranked in the top seven most livable cities in the world at the prestigious 2012 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize.

In 2013 the award-winning Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre underwent a $140 million expansion adding five levels of new convention space specifically designed for smaller conferences.

This investment is further proof of Brisbane’s flourishing conferences and events industry, which injected more than $265 million into Brisbane’s $114 billion economy in 2011-2012.

The city’s first-rate infrastructure is complemented by its position as a hub for innovation, industry, research and development, along with its accessibility, affordability, sustainability, climate and wealth of culture and leisure attractions.

Brisbane Marketing’s Convention Bureau also offers a free, one-stop shop providing independent advice and support to conference organisers.

This includes access to business, industry, government and academic networks as well as assistance in preparing bids, planning and sourcing funding.

For more information about holding a business event in Brisbane, visit: www.meetinbrisbane.com.au.