Adelaide Convention Centre has been successful in two major categories at the South Australian Tourism Awards, announced at a Gala Ball and hosted by the Centre over the weekend.
The Centre took out top honours in the Meetings and Business Tourism category, recognised for its efforts in maximising the tourism experience for meetings and business travellers.
It was also presented with a silver in the hotly contested Qantas Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism category. This acknowledgement has been especially welcomed by the Centre which has worked tirelessly over the past two years to establish its green credentials.
Adelaide Convention Centre Chief Executive Alec Gilbert said this success was a tribute to the hard work of the Centre's Board, senior management and staff.
"This has been a real team effort underpinned by our Gold Service, Green Attitude philosophy which drives all of our business decisions," he said.
"We are a major player in the tourism industry injecting millions of dollars into hotels, restaurants, cafes and other tourism related businesses every year.
"When we win the rights to host a major conference, it is not only the Centre that benefits but local tourism operators as well with conference delegates staying in Adelaide and venturing out to tourist attractions in places such as Kangaroo Island, the Barossa and McLaren Vale and even the Flinders Ranges."
The Sustainable Tourism silver caps off two months of environmental good news for the Centre with the recent announcement that it had been recognised as a "Climate Action Innovator" under an Australian-wide pilot environmental scheme and the news that - in a South Australian first - it had become part of the international Green Globe community.
With four of its indicators achieving "at or above best practice", it is the first South Australian based organisation to pass the rigorous Earthcheck Benchmarking Indicators set by Green Globe and joins a select group of companies across the globe.
"It is our actions and achievements that speak the loudest and these independent acknowledgements recognise the extent of both our commitment to our environmental strategies and their resulting successful outcomes," Mr Gilbert said.
Earlier this year, Adelaide Convention Centre became the first convention centre in Australia to offer Go for Green conference packages that help conference organisers reduce the carbon footprint of events and it received international attention when it established a worm farm to munch through up to 350kg of organic waste each week.
"When you consider our outstanding levels of professionalism and service and our commitment to the environment, it's no wonder that Adelaide is regarded as Australia?s convention city," Mr Gilbert said.
Further information: Jodie van Deventer, Deventer PR & Communications, on 0427 408 588 or jodie@deventer.com.au
