Busselton beats the east to a fitting conference

BUSSELTON has beaten an eastern states regional centre for the right to host a 200-plus delegate national conference next September.

The Australian Shop and Office Fitting Industry Association conference will inject more than $280,000 in direct delegate spending into the region’s economy.

A tailored bid document was produced by the Perth Convention Bureau featuring the South West and the Kimberley as regional options for the association.

A bottle of wine and an empty bottle with a note in it was sent to various state representatives on the national executive of the association.

It appears that – and Busselton’s place in the South West’s wine region – helped swing the deal.

The Perth Convention Bureau is putting $1,500 from its Convention Assistance Package towards the association to assist in promoting the conference.

The CAP scheme provides seed funding to local host organisations to help them stage their conferences in WA.

The region has also attracted the International Wine Conference, due to be held in Margaret River next year.