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WE KNOW: Conferencing on Hamilton Island

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Sharon Levingston, Head of Events at The Events Authority recently returned from a hosted-visit with a number of events industry leaders to attend the opening of Hamilton Island’s new Beach Pavilion conference space.

The group was wined and dined on the lawns between the beach and the Beach Pavilion.

“It was a fabulous event under the stars on a balmy tropical Whitsunday evening, and a timely reminder of what a versatile destination the island is,” says Sharon.

“Recognising the importance of conference and incentive business to the island’s success, Hamilton has made significant investments in revamping its conference spaces. And with accommodation options to suit all styles of groups, Hamilton appeals to a broad base,” she added.

Sharon stayed at Reef View Hotel.

“The rooms are huge! They’re ideal for groups that need a twin share option and, with all rooms ocean facing, the views are fabulous. So fab, in fact, that the feathered locals often pop by to enjoy the views as well,” quips Sharon.

The island’s Conference Centre has been refurbished.

“Conference Centre is fresh, its colours are subtle, and there’s an on-site AV team that knows what can be done in this region,” says Sharon.

The island’s standout features according to Sharon?

  • Hamilton Island has matured and is a genuine stand-alone destination. With a choice of restaurants in all categories – and even now a huge IGA offering a selection of ready made meals, the island offers numerous options for longer stays.
  • Meeting space choices: Conference, beach-front, poolside, yacht club – a number of different venues that can keep any group surprised.
  • The accommodation selection: From Qualia, Yacht Club Villas, Beach Club, Reef View Hotel – the island can cater for any group.
  • The Whitsundays: Honestly, how lucky are we to have this destination right on our doorstep – the reef, Whitehaven Beach, Walking on the island, water activities – just WOW.

Hamilton Island Marina.

Fast Facts

  • Hamilton Island is home to 10 restaurants, 6 bars, 7 pools and over 20 specialty stores. Facilities include a chapel, IGA Supermarket, pharmacy, post office, bank, kids club, hairdresser and day spa.
  • There are 13 dedicated meeting rooms and over 10 unique function areas such as secluded sandy beaches and beachfront pavilions to provide a business event with a difference.

Come and check it out for yourself.

For more information, simply leave us a note in the form below, or CALL US to discuss your specific requirements.

We’d love to hear from you.

WE KNOW Celebrations

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2019 was another big year for The Travel Authority Group. One worth celebrating. And celebrate we did from coast to coast.

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GET TO KNOW: Holly Goder

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A relative newby to The Events Authority, the Events & Travel Coordinator is immersed in a team blessed with experience and expertise.

“Holly brings her enthusiasm and passion to the Events Authority team and is the embodiment of service with a smile. As you might imagine, Holly is learning a lot. Quickly. Significantly, she’s lapping it up,” says Sharon Levingston, Head of Events at The Events Authority.

As the business leader, Sharon describes a couple of key principles that drive The Events Authority’s success:

“We’re world champion jugglers. We’re always working on multiple things at any one moment. And when it comes to problem solving, the answer is always Yes—and then we go about determining and executing the solution. Holly has taken to those principles like a duck to water.” 

Sharon Levingston, Head of Events at The Events Authority.

So, what has it been like for Holly?

“I’ve already learnt so much. From the beginning to end, working on event is exciting as well as challenging. All the hard behind-the-scenes work that goes into the preparation and delivery of an event is eye-opening. And being on site as an event unfolds is non-stop, exhilarating and amazing,” says Holly.

“Working with The Events Authority team is such a privilege. Every member of the team is passionate about what they do. It’s such a positive environment both in the office and on site.

“I can’t wait to absorb and learn more from the team with every event we put together,” she adds.

The Events Authority team lives the following mantra:

We are down to earth, and creative.
We are flexible and adaptable.
We are hungry to make life eventful.

Little wonder Holly is excited about her future in the business.

For more information about Holly and The Events Authority team, simply leave us a note in the form below, or CALL US to discuss your specific requirements.

We’d love to hear from you.

SUSTAINABILITY Challenges in the Events Industry

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Sharon Levingston, Head of Events at The Events Authority, recently attended a travel industry leadership forum that had an eye firmly on the future and a tourism strategy for 2030.

A number of concepts were tossed around at the forum—tech disruption, regional tourism development, and the future of business events, for example. And overlaid across every topic was, perhaps not surprisingly given the zeitgeist, a filter of ‘sustainability’.

“Sustainability’s tendrils are everywhere. And rightly so,” said Sharon.

“But it really got me thinking: What does this mean to me, and to our business?”, she added.

The way Sharon sees it, it’s imperative to break everything The Events Authority does down and ask three simple questions:

  • Is it good for the planet?
  • Is it good for the community? – Clients and the community an event operates in.
  • Is it good for the family? Both at-home and at-work families, and teams.

“Every choice we make has to consider the answers to these questions. And we have to ask them ourselves, because we can be sure our clients are considering the very same things as part of their corporate social (and environmental) responsibility frameworks.

“Outwardly, too, we are going to have to ask more sustainability questions of our clients and partners in our supply chain to ensure we’re making good, ethical business decisions,” Sharon noted.

It’s fair to say that the generation of young professionals joining the Events industry now has a laser-focus on sustainability. This is a space they inhabit naturally, and they’re influencing the pivot taking place across the events industry.

“This is the generation that’s holding us all to account,” says Sharon.

“The changes we need to make needn’t up-end the entire industry. As my daughter reminds me regularly, ‘a million people making one change is more effective than one person making a million changes’”, she adds.

So, Sharon is challenging herself, and those around her, to make one permanent sustainability change each month—a single change that becomes a habit.

“I’ll be checking in each month to drive our little movement of lots of small changes,” advises Sharon.

First up? No coffee or drinks in single use packaging.

“Cheeky disclaimer: Wine bottles are recyclable. So they’re OK, right? As I said, one change at a time, not a million,” quips Sharon.

What do your sustainability efforts look like?

For more information, simply leave us a note in the form below, or CALL US to discuss your specific requirements.

We’d love to hear from you.

WE KNOW: Where to find ‘OHANA’ in Hawaii

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Ohana is the Hawaiian term for ‘family’.

Not just your immediate kin, but your broader community and neighbours. It’s about more than blood-ties. It’s that sense that we’re all connected—that we’re all in this together.

Sharon Levingston, Head of Events at The Events Authority, recently visited Hawaii and reports that she found ohana streaming through her stays at Four Seasons hotels and resorts.

Image: Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina.

“It had been some time since I last visited the beautiful islands of Hawaii,” says Sharon. So, when Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts invited Sharon back, she jumped at the chance. Sharon travelled as a guest of Four Seasons & Maui Jim.

Sharon’s visit included stays at Four Seasons Resort Lanai, and Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina.

Image: Four Seasons Resort Lanai.

Four Seasons Resort Lanai overlooks Hulopoe Bay on the south-eastern coast of the pristine island of Lanai—the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in Hawaii. The resort is just a 20-minute drive from Lanai City, a charming former plantation town with no traffic lights and a friendly, laid-back vibe.

Curiously, 98% of the island—including the Four Seasons Resort Lanai—is owned by tech billionaire Larry Ellison who spent an estimated $450 million to remodel the resort which reopened in April 2016 after a seven-month shutdown.

Image: Four Seasons Resort Lanai

Lanai is accessed from Honolulu by air (35 minutes), or from Maui by ferry. Ferry transfers take about an hour.

“Set by the sea amid spectacular scenery, sunsets and coastal walks, Four Seasons Resort Lanai is a true haven of tranquillity,” Sharon reports.

“The resort has really invested in quality. Every facet of the property and guest experience—including the gorgeous welcome gift in my room—was crafted, and exuded quality and luxury. The attention to detail is visible at every touchpoint,” she adds.

Sharon recommends the 213-room Four Seasons Resort Lanai to anyone looking to step out of the hustle of everyday and breathe.

“Significantly, the resort is the island’s largest single employer, so the sense of ohana here is palpable. Guests really are welcomed into the Lanai family when they stay here,” says Sharon.

For meetings and events, the resort offers nearly 3,500 sq. metres of total event space, with everything from the Hulopoe Ballroom that covers just over 700 sq. metres, to intimate garden terraces. Be sure to contact The Events Authority if Hawaii is on your conferencing radar.

The second stop on Sharon’s visit was Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina on the western shore of the island of Oahu, just 35 minutes from downtown Honolulu.

Located right by four lovely beach coves, known as the Ko Olina Lagoons, the resort is perfect for activities like swimming and outrigger canoeing in clear tropical waters.

Image: Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina.

“Two absolute highlights of my visit were a morning outrigger canoe and snorkelling excursion, and evening stargazing in the dark night sky and observing stunning moon craters and other heavenly sights,” says Sharon.

For meetings and events, Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina offers some 2,600 sq. metres of events space across a range of ballrooms, meeting spaces and outdoor events venues.

Image: Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina.

A final tip from Sharon: If you’re staying at a Four Seasons resort, be sure to download the Four Seasons App. It’s a fabulously efficient way to connect to resort management and services via the app’s ‘chat’ function, to ask where the hairdryer is, request more coat hangers, replace a misplaced room key—anything, really.

One thing that became clear to Sharon from both resort visits is that, at Four Seasons resorts, “The little things are the big things. None more so than the genuine feeling of ohana on arrival. It’s a welcome I won’t forget in a hurry.”

Sharon travelled as a guest of Four Seasons & Maui Jim.

For more information, simply leave us a note in the form below, or CALL US to discuss your specific requirements.
We’d love to hear from you.

WE KNOW: Successful Teams

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In this short article, Sharon Levingston – Head of Events at The Events Authority, reflects on a thing or two she knows about success in business.

I was asked recently by someone visiting our team—and inspecting our trophy cabinet and its most recent addition of the 2019 National Travel Industry Best Business Events Agency Award—why I thought our last few years in business had been so successful.

Instinctively I responded with, “Team. We have shaped a great team.”

And this made me ponder –

What makes a great team?
And, specifically, what is it about ours that drives our success?

I’ve had some time to consider those questions on a recent trip, and here’s what I think.

  • Teams like ours are successful not because they contain a checklist of skill-sets. Our success is driven by the right attitude-set. We come from different backgrounds, we’re an eclectic range of ages and experience levels, but there’s a collective self-awareness at the team level that brings cohesion.
  • That cohesion drives effective communication, chemistry and an awareness of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We step up and step away individually as required to ensure we deliver the most potent version of our collective selves.
  • With cohesion comes a focus on goals and results, and that drives great service and relationships with each other, our clients and suppliers.
  • Ninety per cent of the events we work on involve travel. As a team, we understand that the journey is just as important as the event.
  • We look after each other and understand the importance of having a laugh every now and then.

I’m so proud of this dynamic, emotionally intelligent little team of ours.

We’re going places.

Sharon

FULLERTON SYDNEY Launch Meetings Offer

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The eagerly anticipated Fullerton Hotel Sydney opens its doors on 18 October 2019, and we can help you be among the first to experience an elevated stay in the heart of Sydney’s financial and fashion district through a special Fullerton Group Package.

“We’re thrilled to see the Fullerton brand land in Sydney, and very much look forward to working closely with the Fullerton Events team in the years to come,” said Sharon Levingston, Head of Events at The Events Authority.

To mark the hotel’s official opening, we’re delighted to offer this fabulous ‘Your Choice’ Group Package.

Your Choice

Book your group for stays between 18 October 2019 and 30 June 2020, and receive the following privileges:

  • DOUBLE I Prefer Planner Points and 10 percent off three- or five-hour dinner packages and
    conference delegate package.

PLUS, choose up to three of the following benefits:

  • Complimentary 30-minute post-meeting reception or 30-minute pre-dinner reception.
  • Complimentary alternate drop main course menu.
  • Premium Room Upgrade (Entitled to one room upgrade to a Premium Room for every paying
    20 rooms per night).
  • Suite Upgrade (Entitled to one upgrade to a Suite for each 50 paying rooms per night).

Scroll down for terms and conditions.

Location

The Fullerton Hotel Sydney is housed in Sydney’s former General Post Office building, a historic landmark that has been at the centre of Sydney’s development since 1866. Centrally located in the heart of Sydney’s Central Business District, it is located steps away from the city’s most noteworthy restaurants, fashion brands and theatres, as well as iconic attractions.

For more information, simply leave us a note in the form below, or CALL US to discuss your specific requirements.

We’d love to hear from you.

Terms and Conditions
This promotion is valid for enquiries received after 1 October 2019 and contracted by 31 December 2019 for a minimum of 50 rooms per night and 50 delegates per day. Discount is off retail pricing and blackout dates apply. Not valid for confirmed groups or proposals currently under negotiation. Other terms and conditions apply.

WILDLIFE RETREAT at Taronga Zoo

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Already home to some terrific function venues and experiences, Sydney’s iconic Taronga Zoo has recently revealed its latest premium offering—Wildlife Retreat.

Just 12-minutes by ferry from Circular Quay—even faster by water taxi—Taronga Zoo’s venues can hold intimate boardroom events for 15 people, right up to lavish affairs in Taronga’s grounds. Wildlife retreat adds another dimension to the zoo’s events offering.

“The Zoo already boasts a high quality events offering in an iconic setting, and the new Wildlife Retreat will take it to another level”, says Sharon Levingston, Head of Events at The Events Authority.

Wildlife Retreat features five environmentally-sensitive, sustainably-designed lodges built into the property’s native bushland setting, with 62 elegant rooms and suites that overlook the wildlife habitat, many of them with wonderful views of Sydney Harbour.

Integral to the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga experience is its dining, featuring uniquely Australian menus with a strong focus on fresh local produce and native ingredients.

Owned and operated by Taronga Conservation Society Australia, the Wildlife Retreat will contribute essential funding towards the care of Taronga’s animals and broader conservation and education programs in Australia and around the world.

The Wildlife Retreat at Taronga opens to guests from Thursday 10 October 2019.

For more information, simply leave us a note in the form below, or CALL US to discuss your specific requirements.

We’d love to hear from you.

WE LOVE: Connected Partners

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Our business is built on deep connections with our clients, staff and our supplier partners. Some of our deepest connections lie with our technology partners who, mostly behind the scenes, super-power our offering and our people.

We were thrilled recently to bring one of those technology partners—an Australian one, no less—out from behind the scenes and into the limelight at our annual conference in Brisbane. Tramada is our engine-room, an advanced platform that streamlines our operations, data management, document production and travel accounting.

Sharon Levingston (right) overseeing the action at The Travel Authority Group conference in Brisbane, May 2019.

And we also loved it when the Tramada team popped in to visit The Travel Authority Group bearing a prize they donated to our conference, a prize that was awarded to Sharon Levingston – Head of Events at the Events Authority.

Tramada’s Country Manager, Susan Enners, and Alan McCartney, Head of Sales & Account Management, generously presented Sharon with an iPad.

“I’m so chuffed”, said Sharon Levingston.

“We’ve had a massive few weeks with our exciting win at the National Travel Industry Awards, and now this. We will put the iPad to good use. It will be a brilliant tool for presentations and for showcasing event spaces to our clients”, added Sharon.

We thank the Tramada team for their ongoing support and partnership with The Travel Authority Group.

For more information, simply leave us a note in the form below, or CALL US to discuss your specific requirements.

We’d love to hear from you.

WINNING BIG (Twice) at the National Travel Industry Awards

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We are still buzzing after being named Best Business Events Travel Agency at the National Travel Industry Awards (NTIA) in Sydney on 20 July in the Grand Ballroom of the International Convention Centre, Sydney.

“It’s an incredible result for our passionate team”, said Sharon Levingston, Head of Events at The Events Authority.

“We were up against some large, established operators—all terrific businesses. So, we’re thrilled to have come out on top. A lot of work goes into our awards submissions, and even more into running a great business. We’re re-energised and chuffed”, added Sharon.

The Events Authority is now a two-time winner of this prestigious award, having also won in 2017.

Jennifer Waters, Events & Travel Manager at The Events Authority with Sharon Levingston, Head of Events accepting the National Travel Industry Award.

Hosted by international award winning personality and TV journalist, Anjali Rao, the event played host to some 1,300 guests from just about every corner of the travel industry.

But the Travel Authority Group wasn’t content with winning just one category. The Travel Authority was named Best Travel Agency Corporate – Multi Location for the third time.

The Travel Authority Group’s Sarah Bush accepting the NTIA for Best Travel Agency Corporate – Multi Location.

“It was a great night for the Travel Authority Group”, said the Group’s Director, Sarah Bush.

“Sharon and her team have done a wonderful job. We’re absolutely delighted for them, and it was great to share some NTIA limelight with them in 2019”, she continued.

“The NTIA has industry wide representation and a strong history of recognising and celebrating businesses and personnel who demonstrate outstanding service, marketing excellence and business acumen within the travel industry. The event may be put on by AFTA but it is the industry who makes it a celebration to remember each and every year”, said Jayson Westbury, Chief Executive of the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA).

For more information, simply leave us a note in the form below, or CALL US to discuss.

We’d love to hear from you.