The highly successful Cannes in Cairns event for the advertising, marketing and media industry is expected to attract 2,000 delegates in 2024 after numbers doubled this year from the 650 who attended the inaugural Cairns event in 2022.
Dan Uglow, co-founder of event organiser The Misfits Media Company, said that the newly-upgraded Cairns Convention Centre, and unique offsite venues such as historical oil tanks in lush tropical gardens, allowed the event to “cater to an audience that had been to the region previously and loved getting away from the southern cold”.
Indigenous themes were central to the 2023 event – that coincided with National Reconciliation Week – which started with a Welcome to Gimuy (Cairns) by local Yidinydji representatives from Indigenous cultural group Minjil.
Diverse experiences for delegates also included a Palm Cove beach dinner at Nu Nu, the exclusive Cannes in Cairns Yacht with Parisienne DJ Safire, a VIP dinner at Hemmingway’s Brewery, cocktail parties at Crystalbrook Riley’s rooftop bar Rocco, days of seafood on the iconic Prawn Star, and a Tik Tok takeover of the Cairns Party Bus.
“The event’s wow moment was bringing delegates together for the Pinterest-sponsored Pinchella Welcome Party at the Tanks Arts Centre, an historical venue featuring three WWII oil tanks within the Cairns Botanic Gardens,” Uglow added.
The space was transformed into a “whimsical neon wonderland” featuring indigenous foods catered by Nu Nu, and entertainment by Australian band King Stingray.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland general manager of partnerships and events, Rosie Douglas, pointed out: “Successfully increasing delegates numbers each year in the same destination shows the diversity of our destination’s offsite event venues, world-class catering options, and the professionalism of the business events industry in Cairns and Great Barrier Reef.”
“With increased direct flights from Singapore, Haneda, Tokyo, Osaka and Auckland Cannes in Cairns has the opportunity to grow delegate numbers from across the Asia-Pacific region.”
