ASE was pleased to visit Wellington New Zealand as a hosted media for Meetings 2023 – first, some general observations

For the first time New Zealand’s annual Meetings expo has been held in Wellington.

So why the first time? Well the city never really had a dedicated conference venue. But that has changed in a rather spectacular fashion.

Following the opening of the Christchurch Convention centre, New Zealand now has two stunning new convention centres, with the opening of the ICC in Auckland still some time off as the venue is being rebuilt following the fire that gutted the partially built centre in 2019.

The capital of New Zealand, Wellington is a city with a population of 420,000. In comparison, Canberra has a population of 470,000 so the cities are similar in size but Wellington feels more like harbourside Hobart (population 250,000).

The capitals are similar in hosting national arts and museum venues, however, unlike Canberra, all of Wellington’s major venues are within walking distance of each other.

Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre and across the road is the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Both venues are owned by the Wellington City Council and managed through Tākina Events.

These two buildings are on either side of one of Wellington’s main roads, enabling access to multiple rooms for events – meetings, ceremonies and functions.

Within a 5 minute walk from Tākina there are 7 hotels, ranging from 3 to 5 star, offering a total of 680 rooms. Within a 5-20 minute walk from the convention centre there are an additional 28 hotels.

As usual Meetings kicked off with famils around wellington

140 hosted buyers and media were split into 13 different groups to visit 12 different hotels and to enjoy experiences that included chocolate or scone making, a barista class, wine tasting with a sommelier, constructing a dinosaur with the Wētā Workshop (they created a lot of the costumes for Lord of the Rings) and for 60 lucky people (ASE included) lunch at Boomrock.

On an absolutely perfect day we enjoyed a view of the South Island while perched 250m above Cook Strait. Boomrock Lodge is a restaurant that can host 100 pax for dinner and is situated on Papanui Station, an operational sheep and beef farm.

After lunch we were invited to enjoy activities such as clay shooting, axe throwing (very Kiwi), archery and golf. But not roaming around a course, belting balls at tees hewn into the side of the cliff. To finish off the manager took us for a spin in a Land Rover on the facility’s private race track – then cross country.

That night the social program started with a welcome function

Business events industry welcomed to Wellington

A group of 680 leading business events professionals were welcomed to New Zealand’s capital last night (Tuesday 20 June) with a spectacular opening ceremony for MEETINGS 2023 at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. Business Events Industry Aotearoa’s MEETINGS 2023 is the largest in its 27-year history, with 224 exhibition stands representing 19 regions, including 26 first-time exhibitors, plus over 400 buyers, including 100 from Australia and 10 …

International business event organisers convene in Wellington

Over 1,000 business events industry professionals have arrived in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, New Zealand for Business Events Industry Aotearoa’s MEETINGS 2023 exhibition. New Zealand’s two-day annual industry trade event is being held in Wellington for the first time in its 27-year history and signals a new era for the sector. BEIA Chief Executive, Lisa Hopkins says this year’s MEETINGS will be a landmark event for the industry with a record number …

ASE had a chat to BEIA Chief Executive, Lisa Hopkins  

Meetings 2023 shows off Wellington’s new convention centre

And then to David Perks, General Manager – Takina Commercial Development Manager

What does Wellington’s new convention centre have to offer?

And here is a wrap or our Meetings 2023 stories

Queenstown NZ’s ambitious plan to achieve carbon zero by 2030

Queenstown sits on the shores of Lake Wakatipu at the lower end of New Zealand’s South Island. It is a pristine area renowned for adventure sports and tourism. Tourism is the mainstay of the local visitor economy supported by an engaging events calendar. 

Why did Meetings2023 hosted buyers make a dinosaur?

Wētā Workshop is an award-winning film effects company that service the world’s creative industries. Their crew have worked on many well-known and much-loved films and TV series, such as The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Avatar, King Kong, District 9 and many more.

Meetings 2023 wraps with an Absolutely Fabulous party

After a week of connecting and doing business, the MEETINGS 2023 finale for 675 guests was all about celebrating, in true Wellington style. 

The farewell celebration was held at TSB Arena’s Shed 6 venue and saw a collaboration with the creative team at NW Group who created an immersive experience for guests from the moment they entered the venue.  

Wellington celebrates a milestone MEETINGS 2023

New Zealand’s only national tradeshow for the business events industry has been dubbed a triumph for the capital, celebrating many milestones and winning praise from attendees, organisers and media. Held in Wellington for the first time in the show’s 27-year history, MEETINGS 2023 was the largest ever, welcoming over 1,000 business events professionals, 224 exhibitor stands, and more than 400 buyers from around New Zealand, Australia and beyond.

Rotorua to host Business Events Industry Aotearoa’s MEETINGS 2024

Rotorua has been named host city for New Zealand’s 28th national business events showcase, MEETINGS to be held at the Energy Events Centre on 19 and 20 June 2024. 

First Business Events Week for New Zealand

Aotearoa New Zealand’s business events sector is set to celebrate and collaborate this September during a week-long forum focusing on future growth. Spearheaded by peak industry body Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA) and supported by Tourism New Zealand Business Events, the inaugural Business Events Week will run from 18 to 22 September 2023.

New Zealand’s Business Events industry set to meet in Marlborough

Registrations are open for Business Events Industry Aotearoa’s (BEIA) annual conference in Marlborough which kicks off New Zealand’s inaugural Business Events Week on 18 September.

Thanks to Smoke Photo and Video who provided most of the photos used in thses stories