22 August 2008

Australia committed to sustainable business events

Tourism Australia is currently undertaking a corporate social responsibility audit of the business events sector in order to assess the sustainability credentials of AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s business events sector.

The information collected through the audit will be used to underpin Tourism AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s trade marketing programs around the world and strengthen the industries commitment to environmental and social best practice.

Head of Business Events Australia, Joyce DiMascio said the audit would play an important role in marketing AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s global reputation for delivering world-class, sustainable business events.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThis initiative demonstrates how seriously Australia is committed to sustainable tourism and provides evidence of the industryÃ¢â¬â¢s achievements in corporate social responsibility,Ã¢â¬~ she said.

The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and Perth Convention Exhibition Centre already have Green Globe accreditation, alongside AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s largest hotel, Four Points by Sheraton at Darling Harbour, which has achieved Bronze status. Under the globally recognised Benchmarking program, the new Melbourne Convention Centre, due to open in 2009, has also been awarded a Ã¢â¬Ëœ6 Star Green StarÃ¢â¬â¢ environmental rating, the first in the world for a convention centre.

Attending the Pacific Area Incentives and Conferences Expo (PAICE) this week, Ms DiMascio said that PAICE would provide a platform for raising awareness of AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s credentials in the area of sustainable business events.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœAustralia offers a powerful combination of professionalism and first class infrastructure along with a track record of delivering outstanding business events - what many clients donÃ¢â¬â¢t know is that Australia is also making corporate social responsibility a priority. Through PAICE, we had an ideal opportunity to get our message out to potential clients that Australia will continue to have a big commitment to the environment and community,Ã¢â¬~ she said.

Members of AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s business events industry associations have been invited to participate in the audit. A full report is expected to be completed in the coming months and the results used to authenticate AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s green business events credentials.

For further information, go to www.tourism.australia.com

A Report By The Mole