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Professional Conference Organisers (PCO’s) from around Australia came to Canberra this month for a wintry tour to ‘Uncover Canberra’. For the next 3 days, these 18 PCO famil delegates were shown a selection of Canberra’s business events venues and unique experiences with the aim of opening their hearts and minds to having their conferences, exhibitions and tradeshows in Australia’s capital city.

While this dedicated PCO famil known in the industry as ‘Uncover Canberra’ is relatively new, the precursor annual famil program ‘Top Secret’ has generated over $125m in economic activity to Canberra.  Canberra Convention Bureau carefully curates these famil programs with the help of Bureau members, to change perceptions, inform and surprise clients to encourage consideration of Canberra as the destination for major business events.

From arriving at Australia’s best airport, Canberra Airport, delegates ‘Uncover Canberra’ with a kitchen lunch, behind the scenes tour of a national institution and a mix of bus and boat travel. There were downward dogs and dogs on a hunt, cocktails from high and things blown. A much-loved venue was re-opened, and palettes titillated with our hospitality gurus putting their best plates forward.

Michael Matthews, Chief Executive Officer, Canberra Convention Bureau stated “We love to show PCOs that Canberra is a great destination, whichever time of year, to host business events. Strong leisure appeal is really helping boost delegates’ interest to our city of four remarkable seasons.” 

Upon returning home from Uncovering Canberra, one PCO stated “Canberra is such a diverse and culturally rich destination for business events, conferences and incentives. The stories to be unravelled during a visit are interesting and make you proud to be an Australian and have a wonderful place like Canberra as our Capital. There are many different options for business events to consider when it comes to venues and experiences for all size groups, and travelling between locations is quick and easy, making it a great option to include many offsite attractions within your event program.