More details on the largest corporate incentive programme to wash up on the Gold Coast shores have been revealed. Chinese personal healthcare company Infinitus, due to fly its mid-tier winners into the destination next month, is working with Destination Gold Coast on turning the street mall at Surfers Paradise into a street party.
In an interview with Anna Case, director global business events, Destination Gold Coast, on the sidelines of a Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games-related MICE media fam trip last week, TTGmice learnt that there will be “markets, various activations and buskers”, as well as “a massive stage with continuous entertainment and fireworks, etc”.
Some 20 restaurants have been selected to craft set meals that delegates can redeem with vouchers.
While it is the first time that Destination Gold Coast is presenting a Surfers Paradise street party for a corporate incentive group, Case believes that it will not be the last.
She described the event as a “good example” for other incentive programme planners.
Case said: “We came up with the concept and have been working through it together (with Infinitus). We will be running three street parties, each with 2,000 to 2,500 delegates.
“The one thing we cannot do is to block off the entire area because that is public domain. But Infinitus is really happy with the concept because it wanted its winners to relate to and meet with local people. And that was how we promoted the event – that Surfers Paradise is where our people go and hang out on weekends and after office hours.”
Case’s team is now preparing vouchers and details on what participating restaurants will be offering, and translating them into Mandarin.
“It is really important for us to make them feel welcome even though Mandarin is not our language. We also want to make it easy for them to get around the city,” she said, adding that Destination Gold Coast is running a special training programme for Gold Coast contractors about working and doing business with China and the Chinese.
She elaborated: “We are gathering a lot of suppliers (including restauranteurs and retailers) that will be involved with the (full) event, such as those working on the Surfers Paradise street party, and teaching them how to say welcome in Chinese, about the basics of the Chinese culture, etc.”
While final attendee numbers are yet to be confirmed, Case said there should be 6,000 to 7,000 participants, arriving in four waves. The highlight event will be the gala dinner – one on May 11 and the other on May 16, both set up exactly the same for two separate groups of attendees.
Some 14 four-star properties have been taken up for accommodation, many of which are two-bedroom apartments.
Infinitus is also planning different activity tracks for different demographics.
“One great thing about our city is that we’ve got such a great range of activities. I know that a certain group, probably about 800 pax, will learn to surf while they are here. For the others, those who don’t know how to swim or have a fear of water, they will have other things to do, like shopping,” said Case.
