11

Ignite your next event

2

Choose Greater Port Macquarie for your next event and create an amazing experience for your attendees with fabulous venues, award-winning dining, shopping, adventure, scenery, and beautiful beaches to unwind and relax. With its idyllic location a proven drawcard for strong attendance, you’ll also ease planning hassles with less traffic, free parking, handy commutes, fabulous accommodation, reliable public transport, quality suppliers and local support ... making your event a success!

Top five reasons why Port Macquarie is perfect for your next event

1 Highly desirable destination

2 World-class venues

3 Superior sporting facilities

4 Great places to stay

5 A proven events track record

3

1. A highly desirable destination

Did you know Port Macquarie is now the #1 holiday destination on the Mid-North Coast?

Popular events need popular locations, making it easier to attract participants, patrons and sponsors. Many of our event attendees take the opportunity to extend their stay and holiday here, often with friends and family in tow.

Easy to get to (& easy to get around)

Port Macquarie is a 4 hour drive from Sydney, and therefore within comfortable driving distance (dual carriageway) for over 5 million Australians. It’s conveniently located approximately half-way between Sydney and Brisbane.

Prefer to fly?

We’re well connected, with direct 1 hour flights from both Sydney and Brisbane, or a direct 1 hour 45 minute flight to Melbourne (Essendon). The airport is only a 5 minute taxi ride from our CBD. Wauchope railway station is 15 minutes from the CBD. Once you’re here, it’s so easy to get around. Parking is free, and commutes are short. The town itself

is great for walking, and in a lovely waterside location. The charming towns in the Wauchope hinterland are a 20 minute drive west, with the stunning waterways and villages of Camden Haven to the south.

So much to Eat, See & Do

We’re a premier regional centre for fine food and wine, with a range of boutique vineyards and brewers. Our buzzing city centre is packed with cafes, wine bars, restaurants, and shopping, with our major events precinct in a prime waterfront location. Surrounding towns and villages delight the senses with so much to eat, see and do.

We know that an event’s appeal is strongly tied to its destination, and that attendees like to combine their trip with a range of activities. Choose ‘Port’ for your next event, and enjoy beach loving, fine dining, whale watching, river cruising, grape-stomping, jet-boating, wine-tasting, fishing, jet-flying, beer brewing, kayaking, surf schooling, golfing, horse riding, koala cuddling, steam-training, hang gliding, helicopter-ing, parachuting, BBQing, paint balling, picnicking, waterfall watching, hiking, boutique shopping, bar-hopping, concert-going, movie showing ... the list goes on!

Visit portmacquarieinfo.com.au for all the things you can Eat, See & Do in our region.

4

Clockwise from top: Salty Crew Kiosk at Town Beach, Elements of Design in Wauchope, Bar Florian on Clarence St

5

Clockwise from top left: Port Macquarie Camel Safaris at Lighthouse Beach, Bago Vineyards Maze in Wauchope, Surfer at Town Beach, Tacking Point Lighthouse, Koala at Billabong Wildlife Park, Timber Town steam train at Wauchope, Meg & Me Coffee & Boutique on Clarence St.

6

Clockwise from top left: Sails Resort pavilion,

Luminosity Summit & Ekam Yoga Festival, Glasshouse theatre

2. World-class venues

Make your event one to remember (for all the right reasons!) From the architecturally stunning, state of the art Glasshouse, to our picturesque parks, vineyards, beaches and waterways (including our iconic waterfront Town Green & wharf event precinct), we offer unique and atmospheric venues to suit every occasion. We also have a good selection of clubs hotels and resorts to suit events, functions, conferences and trade shows from 5 to 1,000+ delegates.

7

Clockwise from right: Rydges & Zebu Bar & Grill, Port Macquarie

Panthers, Matt Moran at the Glasshouse Mezzanine,

Glasshouse exterior

8

3. Superior sporting facilities

From our Regional Sporting Stadium, high-spec (high capacity) indoor facilities, to our large range of sporting fields, parks and event precincts, we’ve got it covered. Port has a proven track record hosting state, national and international events, including IRONMAN Australia (over 7,000 attendees), Cricket Australia’s Trans-Tasman Indoor Cricket Championships, and NSW Touch Football Championships (over 16,000 attendees).

Clockwise from top left: Hastings Valley Motorcycle Club at Wauchope, Australian Powerboat Grand Prix on Hastings River, Bago MTB Marathon at Bago Vineyard, Port Macquarie Indoor Stadium, Surfing NSW State Titles at Rainbow Beach, Trans Tasman Cricket Championships at the Ark Indoor Sports Complex

Clockwise from main: Port Macquarie Regional Stadium, Town Beach Skate Park, State Touch Championships Regional Stadium, IRONMAN Swim Leg on Hastings River

9

10

Clockwise from main: Sails Resort, Diamond

Waters Retreat, Flourish Bell Tents,

Flynns Beach Resort

4. Great places to stay

Port Macquarie has a huge range of quality accommodation to suit every taste and budget. From boutique-style resorts to larger hotels, budget to luxury, there are 1,500 rooms in the CBD and nearly 6,000 beds within 15 minutes of the town centre. The majority of those are within walking distance of our most popular event precincts. We also have a number of large caravan and campgrounds in stunning

waterfront locations. Within a short scenic drive of our CBD are the spectacular waterways and villages of Camden Haven to the south, and Wauchope to the west, both areas offering a variety of accommodation options. Our accommodation capacity is amongst the largest in regional NSW. See Attachments for a listing of key accommodation offerings in the region.

11

Clockwise from top: CBD, Observatory

Apartments, Bonny Hills North Coast Holiday Park,

Breakwall Tourist Park, HW Boutique Hotel

Port Macquarie is an events town. It’s in our blood. We’ve got a long and successful history of hosting major regional, state, national and international events. We have the capability and capacity to deliver.

Sporting events include IRONMAN Australia, NSW Touch Football, Australian Surfing Titles, Trans Tasman Indoor Cricket, Motocross, Australian Geoquest, Bago Bluff MTB Marathon, Australian Schoolboys Rugby League, Country Rugby League, Pre-season major league matches across all football codes, and Pacific Slam Basketball, to name but a few. We also now have new and updated facilities to host major indoor sporting events.

Music and cultural events include Tastings on Hastings, Art Walk, Blues & BBQ Festival, Big Band Blast, Wildwood Music Festival, Ekam Yoga Festival, Red Hot Summer Tour, Slice of Haven, The Kendall National Violin Competition and the Port Macquarie Beer & Cider Festival. Our Glasshouse Theatre has also hosted a huge range of national and international acts, from Opera Australia & Australian Ballet, to the Wiggles and Circus Oz.

A range of local conference venues have hosted a large range of events, trade shows and expos.

We’ve hosted events that have attracted up to 18,000 attendees and 2,000 local volunteers per day. Our region has the suppliers, the venues and the Council and community support to help you deliver an amazing event.

5. A proven events track record

12

13

Testimonials

“As a destination, Port Macquarie ticks all the boxes with our customers, with a wide range of accommodation, dining and shopping options set in a great natural environment, easily accessed via road or air.

The event infrastructure and event support network that has been developed and fostered by PMHC greatly assists the planning and delivery of our events. Events in the end are about people and the manner

in which Port Macquarie welcomes our competitors to the region is a major contributing factor to the strong loyalty we enjoy from our customers.”

– David Ray, Regional Director, IRONMAN Oceania

“Port Macquarie-Hastings Council are incredibly professional and extremely positive in their attitude towards home town events, and have been a pleasure to work with over the past five years. As for the amazing and

friendly community, we are always welcomed with open arms when we bring our event to your beautiful town.” – Peter Camilleri, Director, Brooks Running Festival

“I cannot recommend highly enough the dedication, professionalism and wonderful service we received from the Glasshouse team leading up to and during the Australian Dental Association Conference.” – Amy McIntosh,

Managing Partner, East Coast Conferences

“I love organising events in Port Macquarie. From the local community who embrace and support new initiatives to the infrastructure and facilities available, it has provided me with a

strong platform to create, evolve and bring new ideas to life.” – Necia Waghorn, Marketplace Events

“The Port Macquarie beaches and coastal walk are a magnificent backdrop. It’s these features which boosted the attraction for a successful event.”

– Stuart Simons, ‘Sand Mudder’

Council & community – supporting your event

Need help with planning?

In addition to our comprehensive Event Organiser’s Toolkit, we have a number of venues that are covered by a ‘Blanket DA’. This has resulted in less paperwork and expense for our event organisers. For major events, we can provide assistance with planning, traffic management, applications, sites/locations/venues, and regulations.

Looking for sponsorship?

Are you planning a major event? Please contact our Events Manager to discuss potential for Council sponsorship.

Need promotional support?

Our team can provide information and images for your website/advertising materials to help you promote your event. We can also support your event promotion via our popular website and social media channels. The Glasshouse also offers ticketing service if required, and our Visitor Information Centre can put together tour and visitor experience packages for your event attendees.

Need community support and volunteers?

As event organisers ourselves, we know the value of community support. We think we have it in spades. The region is known for its ‘life be in it’ attitude, as well as a wonderful creative energy. We’ve held events that attract up to 2,000+ volunteers per day, and over 12,000 local attendees. As volunteers, supporters, and participants, Port Macquarie embraces events.

14

Contact us

If you’re planning (or considering) a major event in Port Macquarie, our Events Manager would love to hear from you.

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Economic Development Team P (02) 6581 8111 E economic@pmhc.nsw.gov.au

Is your event location:

A highly desirable holiday destination? P

Convenient to get to by road, air and rail? P

Relaxed and easy to get around? P

A progressive and vibrant place? P

Good value for you and your participants? P

Does your event location have: Extensive accommodation options? P

Stunning and unique locations and venues? P

A world-class theatre/performance space? P

A strong online/social media presence? P

Strong community & Council support? P

A proven events track record? P

High quality suppliers and caterers? P

Great facilities? P

Great dining and shopping? P

A range of award-winning visitor experiences? P

Event destination checklist

15

16

portmacquarieinfo.com.au#iloveportmacquarie