UNDER WORLD: Clockwise from top left — Stunning views from atop Mel- bourne’s 975-foot Eu- reka Tower; the French Renaissance– style Flinders Street Station; sprawling natural beauty; and the terrace at Ma- dame Brussels public house.
Taking AIME in Melbourne M
OTOR COACH, MOTORCYCLE, helicopter, airplane, hot-air balloon, boat, and Segway. There are many
ways to explore Melbourne — Australia’s cultural and entertainment capital, and its second most-populous city — and in just four days in mid-February I did seven of them. Entering its Indian summer, the perfectly
temperate city was teeming with international visitors for the annual Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME), which was celebrating its 20th anniversary at the Melbourne Conven- tion & Exhibition Centre. In addition to taking in
26 pcma convene April 2012
AIME’s well-attended networking events, education sessions, and bustling trade-show floor — which drew 500 hosted buyers from 27 countries — our group of media representa- tives and meeting planners explored Melbourne during a flawlessly executed fam trip hosted by the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB).
On day one, fresh off a 15-hour flight from
Los Angeles, our group checked in at the 658-room Crowne Metropol, the newest addition to the expansive Crowne complex that includes a casino, three hotels, a cornucopia of