Building up the events capital CMW pings some questions Down Under for Melbourne Convention Bureau chief executive Julia Swanson.
Tell us about your early career in hospitality, and how you moved into destination marketing. I spent 13 years in the hotel sector, initially in operations and then into an area director of sales and marketing role. I loved that sector but was drawn to having a broader scope of promoting the city I love to an international audience. Business events is an amazing sector to work in; we work with such a variety of venues, professional conference organisers, hotels, event producers and exhibition companies. We are also fortunate to work with global leaders in science, medicine, business and academia, for whom we can help build international collaboration platforms. It is very rewarding seeing business events come to life and deliver real economic and social outcomes for the city.