The 15-month-old International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) is bringing back large-scale business events to the Australian city, with the most prominent gathering so far being the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit that kicked off last Friday.

The Summit drew the participation of heads of state from across South-east Asia as well as Australian political leaders.

Geoff Donaghy, CEO of ICC Sydney, told TTGmice that the meeting was 12 months in the making, with the venue team working closely with various agencies, state authorities and federal government.

Donaghy described the meeting as a “very important event for Australia, but also for Sydney and for the centre”.

“(An event) at that high political level will put incredible focus on the city and the venue because the ability to host such an event requires a high level of security, and this sends an important signal to the South-east Asian market about the capabilities of ICC Sydney,” he said.

The next major event for the harbour city is Sibos, regarded as the world’s leading financial services show, scheduled for October 22 to 25. It will be attended by 6,000-plus delegates.

World Congress of Accountants will follow in November for 4,500 attendees.

Samantha Glass, ICC Sydney spokesperson, added that the venue has attracted many corporate meetings that have long been held in Asia to move out to Sydney.

David Swagell, head of industry – professional services and technology with Business Events Sydney, said the return of mega meetings was a welcome one for Sydney.

“A lot of large events couldn’t come to Sydney for the three years that ICC was in construction,” he said. “We are now having a lot of conversations in the international marketplace to bring these events back to Sydney.”

Demand is rising, he noted, and the city now boasts “a very strong pipeline of events from a range of industries that are in line with the NSW government’s priority areas”.

Furthermore, the opening of ICC Sydney is leading a hotel revolution in the Darling Harbour precinct.

‘With the new convention centre, we are seeing an uplift in the supply of hotel stock. For example, The Ritz-Carlton is going into The Star, we are getting a W hotel, and the Hyatt Regency has just increased its (room inventory) to about 900 rooms. Plus, the Sofitel has just opened down at Darling Harbour, which brings a positive and exciting impact to the precinct.