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Land-locked Darling Harbour needs more room to compete, say MICE experts
Sydney is in danger of missing out on exhibition opportunities if it does not follow Melbourne’s lead in expanding its MICE facilities.

That’s the view of some of Australia’s exhibition experts, who claim that because of the ‘land-locked’ nature of the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre (SCEC) at Darling Harbour, plans for further extension are indefinitely on hold unless another suitable nearby development opportunity arises.

One such area exists at East Darling Harbour, but the plans do not include exhibition facilities.

“This is one of the last major development sities available in the city and if it goes ahead without the inclusion of an exhibition facility capable of hosting large-scale exhibitions, Sydney has lost an enormous opportunity to add to its economic infrastructure,” said Mark Baker, chief executive officer Exhibition & Event Association of Australia.

“It is absolutely critical that in the short-term the existing Homebush facility is upgraded, and in the longer term, a new facility built close to the centre of Sydney if the city is to be in a position to capitalise on potential activity and future growth,” said Baker.

“If New South Wales does not take this opportunity (at East Darling Harbour) to include such a purpose-built facility, the state will be limited in its ability to stage major exhibitions. And we don’t just need the growth to attract international events — many of our existing shows are now spilling out of the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre into temporary structures and are being hampered in their attempts to grow further by lack of space — certainly not by lack of interested companies wishing to exhibit.”

Securing space for a new event, or expanding an existing show at the SCEC, has become virtually impossible, according to Graeme Selby, chairman of Australian Exhibition Services (AES).

He said East Darling Harbour offered Sydney a prime opportunity to secure the crown of exhibition capital and satisfy future space demands.
“Melbourne has already committed to expansion of its convention centre and has also identified the footprint for major expansion of exhibition facilities. If NSW does not address this issue of venue space, large international events may be lost to Melbourne and by default NSW will lose the accompanying revenues these events bring to the state,” said Selby.

Reed Gift Fairs, which take place six times a year — twice in NSW — now fully occupy all the exhibition halls of the SCEC and spill out into other areas of the Centre, including purpose-built additional space on the Darling Harbour concourse.
“The gift and homewares wholesale industry collectively would welcome more exhibition space close to the CBD, as this is clearly the preferred location for business exhibitions in NSW which attract a large interstate component of exhibitors and visitors,” said Debbie Evans, group exhibition director, Reed Exhibitions — Australia.

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