Tourism Australia’s (TA) signature business events and incentives showcase Australia Next returned to Melbourne/Narrm (the traditional Aboriginal name for Melbourne), Victoria, for the first time since 2013 in early December.
The three-day event, which typically occurs every two years but has taken place annually since returning to its full grandeur in 2023 following the Covid pandemic, has a proven track record of helping secure a pipeline of international events for Australia.
“Our last incentive showcase in Cairns/Gimuy [in 2024] drove solid results for Australia’s business events industry, generating 161 business leads to date worth around AUD$170 million [approximately USD$121 million],” said Tourism Australia Managing Director Robin Mack in a press release. “…At Tourism Australia we know the best way to showcase our country is to show, not tell, international decision-makers about what we have to offer.”
Tourism Australia’s 2025 Australia Next program, put together in partnership with the Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB), hosted 97 Australian industry sellers and 95 business-event planners from North America, the U.K., New Zealand, Greater China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, South Korea and Japan. For international planners and media, the showcase was either prefaced or followed by a fam, with destinations varying for different markets.
After three consecutive showcases, Australia Next is back on its standard biennial schedule, returning in 2027 when Sydney/Warrane will play host to the event.
“We can’t wait to welcome international business-event planners to Sydney in 2027,” Mack said. “This will be the first time international business events planners have been to Sydney for Tourism Australia’s incentive showcase in 16 years and Business Events Sydney has plenty of new product to show.”
In addition to nearly 200 sellers and planners, the 2025 Australia Next event also hosted 14 industry media including Meetings Today’s destinations content manager Taylor Smith. Here’s her firsthand account of her time in Melbourne for Australia Next 2025.
[Related: Inside Australia’s Growing Meetings Market With Tourism Australia’s Robin Mack]
Melbourne, Victoria
When I attended Australia Next in November 2023, one-on-one appointments with suppliers from across the country gave me a bite-sized taste of what different destinations in Australia have to offer incentive groups. Three words capture what I learned about Melbourne on that trip: innovative, imaginative and inspiring.
In just two days, Australia’s knowledge and cultural capital showed off all it has to offer incentive groups that makes those three words true.
Day One: A Yarra River Retreat and Lunch Under the Lights
There are pros and cons to living within 10 miles of America’s busiest airport. Pro: From Chicago O’Hare, I can get anywhere. Con: Nearly 8.5 inches of snow may fall the day I’m supposed to fly to the other side of the planet, delaying my arrival in Melbourne by an entire day.
Thankfully, the team at Tourism Australia didn’t give up on making sure my two new industry friends from the Windy City and I made it to Melbourne swiftly and safely to experience as much of the 2025 Australia Next program as possible.
When we arrived the morning of December 2, TA had a transfer pick us up from Melbourne Airport (MEL) and take us straight to our host property, 1 Hotel Melbourne, where our rooms were ready for us to check in early, drop off our things and dash to afternoon one-on-one appointments or, for me, the Australia Next Media Program.
Situated on the banks of the Yarra River, 1 Hotel Melbourne is committed to sustainability and thoughtfully puts its “designed by nature” touch on elements throughout the hotel. From the welcome experience as guests enter the light-filled lobby, where plants and greenery are placed thoughtfully in every nook and corner, to the reclaimed wood finishes, neutral tones and sunlight that shines through floor-to-ceiling windows in the hotel’s 275-plus guest rooms and suites, nature flows seamlessly from the outside in.
Even the mess I made during the 45 minutes I spent freshening up for the media program—picture the hotel room of a 25-year-old woman fresh off a 16-hour flight following an unexpected 24-hour layover in Los Angeles—somehow felt tranquil in that space.
I soaked it up for a second before rushing to meet the rest of the media group for a ride to lunch with Melbourne River Cruises, offering a private, floating venue for groups as well as seamless transfers between networking events. Fitted with flat rooftops to glide beneath the city’s historic low bridges, Melbourne River Cruises’ boats are designed specifically for F&B service and a laid-back atmosphere.
After a short journey on the Yarra River, we docked and walked a block over to Arts Centre Melbourne, Australia’s largest and busiest performing arts complex. The center is home to iconic venues including the State Theatre, Fairfax Studio, the Australian Music Vault—a free permanent exhibition dedicated to celebrating the history, stories, people and future of Australian music—and Playhouse, an event-capable two-tier auditorium with 884 seats and a stage designed for large-scale dramatic works, theater productions and performances, where our lunch was served.
One by one, we made our way onto the Playhouse stage, guided by talented entertainers who first acted as our dedicated docents leading us through the Australian Music Vault and eventually to lunch. But first, they led us down a hallway, through the dressing rooms, behind a curtain to where all the AV magic happens backstage and finally, onto the stage itself, where they had us stand in a circle in the center and started to dance around us.
As the performance continued, the dancers—part of a lineup of local entertainment curated by Evie Creative Entertainment—had us stand in two parallel lines on the stage, facing each other, with about 10 feet of space between us. Then, they told us to look up.
Descending from the ceiling was a 24-seat table draped in black velvet with a river of red flowers running from one end to the other, and our places at the table were already set. Staff made it seem as though our chairs magically appeared behind us, and the menu on my plate was specifically designed for me, keeping not just my dietary restrictions but also my preferences in mind.
As we dined locally on ethically sourced wagyu beef from Westholme Farms, gin-cured ocean trout, Macedon Ranges lamb, Mooloolaba king prawns and Australian rock lobster, each course was paired with another performance. Evie Creative Entertainment brought in acts ranging from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to a live rendition of Wicked’s “Defying Gravity” complete with a flying Elphaba Thropp and all.
My first evening in Melbourne—the group’s second—wrapped with the Australia Next Welcome Event hosted by MCB at The Commons Collective, an elevated event venue with a variety of spaces in a restored heritage-listed building. We entered The Rose Garden at the heart of the venue, an outdoor sanctuary for 150 seated or 500 standing, and made our way inside to speakeasy-style Bar Moubray, with Prohibition-era character and space for up to 100 seated or 250 for a reception.
Tucked away in a corner of the room, Poems 4 Trade (@poems4trade on Instagram), an on-the-spot “portable performing poetry service” available for events and other bookings, was click-clacking away on a typewriter, crafting custom original pieces for attendees.
“How does one write for a writer,” my custom poem begins. “A professional writer, who is living her dream…”
[Related: Highlights from Tourism Australia’s Incentive Showcase and a Gold Coast Tour]
Day Two: More to Explore in Melbourne
Breakfast the next morning took place in 1 Hotel Melbourne’s 10,760-square-foot Seafarers Ballroom, a sunlit riverside venue with soaring 32-foot ceilings, massive glass doors and windows and space for up to 940 guests theater-style or 650 for a banquet in the heritage-listed Goods Shed.
Australia Next 2025 attendees made sure to get their caffeine fix and fill up on nourishing and energizing eats from MCB’s “marketplace,” offering a variety of food stations set up around the perimeter of the room. I opted for some local, freshly grown strawberries atop an acai bowl with granola, coconut flakes, chia seeds and more to fuel me for MCB’s adventurous Destination Showcase Day ahead.
Buyers and media were split into groups and sent to four different locations for the afternoon: Yarra Valley, Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula, Melbourne’s Central Business District and Mornington Peninsula—my group’s assigned destination for the day.
The TA team warned us about the 90-minute bus ride ahead of us, down a windy road with lots of twists and turns. Dramamine in hand, I boarded the bus and got comfortable for the journey, which suddenly came to a halt about 10 minutes later when we parked beneath a bridge and were told we’d made it to our destination.
Anticipating a surprise, we walked across a shady park area to the riverfront, where Microflite Aviation had two helicopters ready to take us to the Mornington Peninsula. Our pilot took us on a path over Port Phillip Bay and pointed out the iconic Brighton Bathing Boxes on Dendy Street Beach. The collection of 93 colorfully painted beach huts is a tourist attraction in the area. The huts are often passed down through generations, and from my bird’s-eye view, they looked like a piece of art along the shoreline.
Our first stop on the Mornington Peninsula was Alba Thermal Springs & Spa for a hot-springs bathing and spa experience. The Australian company is committed to respecting the natural environment and its traditional owners, with its practices rooted in sustainability, authenticity, respect and connectivity. Across its 37-acre property, Alba offers more than 35 contemporary geothermal pools, 22 spa treatment rooms and onsite restaurant Thyme. The Sanctuary is Alba’s luxury accommodation, with secluded villas that echo the spa’s design and wellness ethos.
With just a day to experience Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula, our time at Alba was limited, so we soaked it all up—literally—in one of the spa’s geothermal pools, coconut smoothie in hand. Groups from 10 to 400 guests can take advantage of Alba’s amenities and private event capabilities for everything from large corporate gatherings and conference offsites to incentive programs like the one our group experienced.
Less than 20 minutes from Alba, Ten Minutes by Tractor started in 1997 with three family-owned vineyards on the Mornington Peninsula that were “all ten minutes by tractor apart,” according to the winery’s website. Today, the winery, cellar and restaurant serve as a special event venue with intimate settings and unique culinary experiences.
We enjoyed lunch in The Hamilton Room, with floor-to-ceiling windows on one wall overlooking the Gabrielle vineyard and space for 14 seated at a 100-year-old oak and rare 15,000-year-old petrified-Redgum table. Our menu focused on blending seasonal and local ingredients with wine and nature, featuring rockling, aloe vera, eye fillet, fermented lettuce, ssamjang, goat’s milk, galangal and more.
Not even five minutes away, Green Olive at Red Hill is a vineyard and grove that grows olives, grapes, lemons, herbs, veggies and bush food—and raises sheep!—to create a range of food and wine offerings. The 27-acre farm is a family-owned and -operated business, with two very friendly greeters and Australian Kelpies named Indi and Luna, and even more animal friends to love.
Green Olive at Red Hill offers a range of corporate event experiences including a private pasta-making activity, sit-down long-table lunches for up to 100 guests and roaming canapé-style events for up to 200. We enjoyed a sampling of the Ultimate Farm Tour & Grazing Lunch, snacking on toasted ciabatta, olives, crackers, herbs, extra virgin olive oil and dips.
Our friends from Microflite Aviation had more afternoon adventures to fly to, so we enjoyed the quiet, sleepy bus ride back to 1 Hotel Melbourne, where we freshened up for the Australia Next 2025 Dinner, hosted by Business Events Australia at the historic Royal Exhibition Building.
Completed in 1880 for the Melbourne International Exhibition, the building is equally as stunning inside as it is out, with soaring ceilings, intricately designed windows, ornate details and an iconic Great Hall and Dome Promenade that’s picture-perfect for long-table settings like ours that evening.
At the center of the 10 tables running through the heart of the venue’s 269,000 square feet, a stage was set up for rotating local Melbourne talent. Harpist Liana Perola, Didgeridoo performer Ganga Giri, vocal looper Tanya George and pop artist Umbra Moon entertained attendees throughout the evening, and before dinner concluded, Tourism Australia’s Robin Mack took the stage.
“We wanted to inspire you. We wanted to excite you,” he said. “[And there are] some things I hope you’re going to take home with you.
“The first is our product—that you feel we have a quality product and infrastructure that can surprise and delight your incentive delegates, and that we are stepping up and punching our weight in terms of sustainability, because it’s so important to us as a destination,” Mack continued. “I also hope you’ve got that sense of place for Australia, especially the first-time visitors. I hope it’s connected with you. I hope you felt that welcome from the people that’s going to continue all your journey here…That’s genuine. It’s authentic, and we love having visitors come across to experience it themselves, because it’s really about partnership.
“Whether you’re selling an incentive as a destination, you’re putting it on your list of considerations, you’re writing about it—you need to have the confidence in the destination to promote it. You’re trusting us as an industry that we can do that,” Mack said. “I guarantee every industry person in this room, every Australian seller and product, will over-deliver for your incentive groups—and I hope they’ve given you a taste of why we believe there’s nothing like Australia for business events.”
