The Mole at the Melbourne Cup

You have to give it the Victorians – they do know how to party and The Mole was right in the thick of it yesterday at the stunning Melbourne Cup, reputedly the largest horse racing event in the world, yes that’s right and right here in Australia!

With a great deal of rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne to claim and hold on to the coveted title of the event capital of Australia, there is no doubt that as of now Melbourne has deservedly secured that accolade, with the Victorian Government investing heavily in events and while there are clouds on the horizon for the F1, that’s another story!

The Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau [pictured below: our hosts Zoe Shurgold, MCV+B Communications Manager and her partner Paul], also work hard to maximize exposure from Flemington and the Melbourne Cup Carnival, using the event as a significant plank of their global marketing, demonstrating that Melbourne is a lively place to be and yesterday was no exception with the city and Flemington buzzing with sophistication.

Back to the Melbourne Cup on a glorious warm, sunny, Melbourne day with a record crowd from all walks of life from all over Australia, Rozalee Erceg, General Manager Flemington Business Development, told The Mole that the Victoria Racing Club was very proud of its record at Flemington, not only in terms of the Melbourne Cup, but also the whole Carnival, but also the development of Flemington as a world class events and conference venue, with a wide range of conferences and events now taking place at Flemington, including next year’s Big Day Out.

Rozalee [pictured left] added though that the Carnival surrounding the Melbourne Cup Carnival was still the big one, telling The Mole that something like 95% of the VRC’s profit came from the Melbourne Cup Carnival and they worked hard all year to make this pinnacle event a superb one……….and The Mole says they most certainly succeeded!

Rozalee said that  her role also included looking for commercial opportunities outside the Melbourne Cup Carnival and the VRC was continuing to invest in Flemington and the International Lounge was a good example of that investment, with the Lounge aimed at providing companies with a very smart and stylish location where they can entertain their international guests.   Rozalee added that the International Lounge will remain in situ until about Christmas for a wide range of events and she spent a great deal of time promoting the whole Flemington facility.  They also have a conference facility that can accommodate over a 1,000 delegates and Rozalee said that the corporate market can now take advantage of what the VRC believes is a unique facility, with event organisers looking for new, different and exciting venues – Flemington even has the biggest rose garden in the world!

She said that Austrade had been very supportive to the development of the International Lounge, using the facility to entertain international visitors [pictured right some Korean visitors from a horse stud in Korea enjoy a rest in the new International Lounge] but what was interesting to hear was that the Victorian Government did not provide any funding for Flemington, with the VRC standing on its own two feet financially in running all these major events.

The economic benefit for Melbourne and Victoria of the Melbourne Cup Carnival was massive though, estimated to be in the region of $A470m.

Rozalee said that Flemington and the VRC was a major part of the Victoria events central success story with yesterday’s the 147^th run, so it has been around a long time, is well established globally as one of the best racing events in the world and a leading international event.

She stressed that the event was one for everybody no matter what budget, even if you are not interested in horses, with many coming to the Melbourne Cup for the food and wine, the lifestyle, a great social occasion and, yes of course the celebrity watching – a quintessentially Australian event!

The Melbourne Cup Carnival is possibly the biggest corporate event in the world with over 250 corporate marquees at Flemington for the Carnival, with corporate hospitality  critical part of the marketing function of most companies

The International Lounge even has a full blown betting facility with the charming Sarah Walsh and her colleague Jason Sylvester [pictured] from Flemington Sportsbet relieving The Mole of some cash and of course it goes without saying that The Mole sadly did not back the winner – what can I say, except maybe next time!!

For more information please visit www.vrc.net.au and on Melbourne please visit www.mcvb.com.au

A special on location report by The Mole from The Melbourne Cup – The Mole was a guest of the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau, Victoria Racing Club and Emirates